RPT - EU Seeks to Penalize London for Brexit by Legal Action Over Freedom of Movement - UKIP
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th May, 2020) By threatening to proceed with legal action against London over alleged violation of the EU freedom of movement rules, the European Union is trying to penalize it for Brexit, Freddy Vachha, the general secretary of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), told Sputnik.
On Thursday, the EU launched legal action against London for failure to notify the bloc on modifications to freedom of movement provisions that London remained bound by until December 31, the end of the Brexit transitional period.
The UK now has four months to "address the shortcomings" of the existing policy if it wants the legal proceedings to be stopped, otherwise it would face financial penalties by the European Court of Justice.
"I am sure they have got lots of things to argue with and the European Court of Justice will be involved and they will try to impose financial penalties on us. The main political point though is that they have got used to us giving in and crumbling. We have had a series of Prime Ministers who have done precisely that, so because they think we are a pushover they think they might get some money. It is always about money. So if they can extort a few hundred millions or billions of Euros over this matter then they will do that," Vachha said.
Vachha added that the UK citizens were now likely to become more supportive of a "no deal" Brexit scenario due to such "bandit" behavior of the EU after British politicians have been making concessions to the block for years.
"They are stamping their feet over the fact we are leaving, and what they are doing is likely to lead to even more support for a no deal than there is already. Trying to argue legal matters with the EU is pointless as we're dealing with a bunch of bandits. We should have simply repealed the European Communities Act [1972] and left, that is our position and there was nothing they [the EU] would have been able to do about that," Vachha added.
The EU is insisting that the existing UK law violates the rights of EU citizens residing in the UK and effectively limits their opportunities to "appeal administrative decisions restricting free movement rights".
Under the existing Brexit Agreement, the UK remains compliant with the common EU-wide legislation as if the country still is a member of the bloc. The capacity of the EU to launch infringement proceedings thus applies when it comes to violations committed until the end of the transition period.