WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1472/97 by Cristiana MUSCARDINI to the Commission. Abuse of power by the Württemberg authorities in relation to free movement of workers
Date: 1997-04-30
Institutions: European Parliament, MUSCARDINI
Subjects: EU national, European Commission, Germany, application of EU law, free movement of workers, infringement of EU law, interpretation of the law, migrant worker, public order, removal













EUR-Lex - 91997E1472 - EN






Avis juridique important




|



91997E1472

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1472/97 by Cristiana MUSCARDINI to the Commission. Abuse of power by the Württemberg authorities in relation to free movement of workers  


Official Journal C 373 , 09/12/1997 P. 0137 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1472/97 by Cristiana Muscardini (NI) to the Commission (30 April 1997)Subject: Abuse of power by the Württemberg authorities in relation to free movement of workersThere has recently been an abnormal increase in the number of violations of Community law on migrant workers in Germany, and in particular in the Stuttgart region.This seems to be part of a deliberate attempt to abuse powers to ensure that workers from other Member States are treated, not under the Aufenth/G/EWG (law transposing the directives on migrant workers into German law) but under the much more severe 'Auslandergesetz' (general law on foreigners, making it possible to expel Community citizens on grounds other than those that would normally apply).Will the Commission make representations to the Baden Württemberg authorities in order to safeguard the rights of citizens of EU Member States combating any threat to the livelihood of Community migrant workers and restoring legal security?Joint answer to Written Questions E-1468/97 and E-1472/97 given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (26 June 1997)Under Article 48(3) of the EC Treaty, workers' entitlement to freedom of movement is subject to limitation on grounds of public policy. The first paragraph of Article 3 of Directive 64/221/EEC ((OJ 56, 4.4.1964. )) states that measures taken on grounds of public policy or of public security shall be based exclusively on the personal conduct of the individual concerned. Article 2(2) of the same Directive stipulates that grounds of public policy may not be invoked to service economic ends. In its consistent case law, the Court of Justice has ruled that reliance by a national authority upon the concept of public policy presupposes the existence of a genuine and sufficiently serious threat affecting one of the fundamental interests of society. Although Community law does not impose upon the Member States a uniform scale of values as regards the assessment of conduct which may be considered contrary to public policy, conduct may not be considered as being of a sufficiently serious nature to justify restrictions on the admission to or residence within the territory of a Member State of a national of another Member State in a case where the former Member State does not adopt, with respect to the same conduct on the part of its own nationals, repressive measures or other genuine and effective measures intended to combat such conduct ((CoJEC, Judgment of 18 May 1982, Joined Cases 115 and 116/81, Adoui and Cornauille, ECR 1982, p.1665. )).Certain problems linked to the application of the public policy reservation by the authorities of the Federal German Land of Baden-Württemberg, with regard to Community nationals, both workers and others, have been the subject of several petitions addressed to the Parliament. In this context, the Commission has contacted the German authorities in connection with the interpretation of the above-mentioned Treaty provisions and the application of national measures for implementing the said Directive.