Blog: The ’emergency brake’ on EU citizens’ benefits: Must the Commission or Council control it?

One issue that has arisen in the UK’s renegotiation of EU membership is the procedure for the UK (or other Member States) invoking an ‘emergency brake’ to limit access to in-work benefits by EU citizens. Should a Member State be able to pull the ‘emergency brake’ on its own initiative (perhaps with a requirement to notify the European Commission and Council of the European Union)? Or should it only be able to make a request to that effect, with the Commission and/or Council deciding on whether to authorise it?

The following analysis demonstrates that there is no legal rule which requires that only the Commission and/or Council can authorise a Member State to pull the emergency brake. Therefore it is a matter of political discretion to decide on who should pull it.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: PM calls and readout of meetings in Brussels: 29 January 2015 http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-pm-calls-and-readout-of-meetings-in-brussels-29-january-2016/

ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/

Blog: EU Law Analysis, 02.02.16: The draft renegotiation deal: EU immigration issues http://eulawanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/the-draft-renegotiation-deal-eu.html

ESO: Background information: Letter by President Donald Tusk to the Members of the European Council on his proposal for a new settlement for the United Kingdom within the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-letter-by-president-donald-tusk-to-the-members-of-the-european-council-on-his-proposal-for-a-new-settlement-for-the-united-kingdom-within-the-european-union/

The Conversation, 02.02.16: Explainer: what is the EU emergency brake? https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-eu-emergency-brake-54076

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