Cornel, I am extremely surprised to read this from you. I always thought you would know better than me! I cannot believe you are not aware of this. If you being a university professor are not aware of this, imagine the common Goan with Portuguese citizenship that lands in these shores directly from Goa!
Either you did not understand the problem your relation was facing or your relation was so confused that he was not aware of his own rights (not uncommon amongst Goans... - the reality is that they do not know their own rights... This EU thing is so good to be true that sometimes Goans struggle to understand their own rights and suffer abuse from their employers and from the authorities. There is lack of information and lack of people to provide advice. I have been advising lots of Goans in the UK and lots have learned many things from me). It is possible that your relation was using his Indian passport (instead of the Portuguese). But even then, because he was married to a French citizen, he could have stayed here provided that she was exercising her rights under the Treaty of Rome, ie, living and working in the UK as a French citizen. So, either he did not understand his rights or you did not understand what he meant. I know you still do not believe me, so please check this: http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/working_in_the_uk/en/homepage/your_status/e uropean_citizens.html Once again, I will clarify: Citizens from the first 15 EU countries do not require work permit to work in any EU country. All they need is an ID Card or a passport from their EU member country to start working. Citizens from the 8 of the last 10 EU countries (these are the 10 countries that joined the EU about two years ago from Eastern Europe with exception of Cyprus and Malta) may require work permit due to temporary restrictions imposed by some of the first 15 countries. Portugal joined 20 years ago and there are no restrictions whatsoever for Portuguese citizens to exercise their rights anywhere in the 25 countries of the EU under the Treaty of Rome. In essence, citizens from a member state have the following rights: a. Move freely throughout the EU b. Live, study, work and do business in other Member States c. Vote and stand as a candidate in European elections in the Member State in which he/she is living d. Vote and stand as a candidate in local elections in the Member State in which he/she is living e. Petition the European Parliament if his/her rights as citizens are infringed f. Complain to the EU Ombudsman if he/she has a grievance against an EU institution or body g. Request assistance from the embassy of any EU Member State if he/she gets into difficulty abroad the European Union h. Write to the EU in any language of the EU, and get a response in that language i. Equal treatment, ie, Citizens from EU Member states must not be discriminated against on grounds of nationality The last point says it all really! There cannot be discrimination on grounds of nationality. There is, however, a temporary 7 years restriction on 8 of the 10 new EU members that joined in May 2004 (these are: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia), but this restriction has never been enforced by the UK, Ireland and Sweden and has Fred posted recently, the same restriction has been lifted by Portugal, Spain and Finland ( http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33065 ) I challenge you to verify this for yourself and then tell us what you found. A complete reference on this subject can be found here: http://europa.eu.int/youreurope/nav/en/citizens/guides/yourrights/index.html Best regards Paulo Colaco Dias. > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of cornel > Sent: 15 May 2006 22:39 > To: goanet@goanet.org > Subject: [Goanet] Re: European Union - citizenship et al > > Paulo > I am not sure that you are totally right that, say someone from Portugal > or > any EU member has as much right as a UK citizen regarding work etc > notwithstanding that work is currently plentiful here. I only say this > because very recently, a distant Goan Portuguese national relation of > mine, > (by marriage), was required to return to France when he could obtain work > here, and desperately wanted to remain here. His English was excellent but > he was forced to seek work in France (being married to a French national) > and to struggle with French. I think a work permit is still a requirement > and that Jose is right. > Cornel _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org)
