Report - Guardian

158 The LSE Identity Project Report: June 2005such as obtaining a residence card. Workers, self-employed persons and their familieswere entitled to a five-year residence permit that could be renewed automatically.Then, in 2001, the European Commission issued proposals that ultimately resulted inthe enactment of Directive 2004/38/EC. The Directive’s principal aim is “to simplifyand strengthen the right of free movement and residence of all Union citizens” bycodifying existing directives into a single legislative act. The Directive creates a newright of permanent residence and sets forth the limits that can be placed on these rightsby Member States on public policy, public security or public health grounds.The UK Government has until 30 th April 2006 to implement the Directive and, prior toimplementing the Directive, is precluded from enacting conflicting legislation. As notedby the European Court of Justice in Case C-129/96 Inter-Environment Wallonie ASBL vRégion Wallonie, “it is during the transposition period that the Member States must takethe measures necessary to ensure that the result prescribed by [a] directive is achieved atthe end of that period” and to refrain “from adopting measures liable seriously tocompromise the results prescribed”.The Proposed Scheme is Arguably Incompatible with Directive 2004/28/ECThe Directive requires Member States to allow EU citizens “to enter their territory witha valid identity card or passport” (Article 5) and to reside there for up to three months“without any conditions or any formalities other than the requirement to hold a valididentity card or passport” (Article 6). EU citizens, therefore, have the express right tostay in the UK for up to three months without any conditions or formalities. Requiringthem to acquire a UK identity card during that period of time would qualify as acondition or formality. The Government appears to have accepted this and has statedthat for “legal reasons, it is not feasible to require EU nationals to register until theyhave been in the UK for three months and intend to stay longer.” 376Article 7, in turn, confers on all EU citizens the right to reside in another EU MemberState for more than three months, if the citizen falls into one of the following categoriesof persons: workers and self-employed persons, students and those with sufficientresources to support themselves without becoming a burden on the relevant MemberState’s social welfare system. 377 Article 8 describes the administrative formalities that aMember State may apply to such EU citizens – namely, the host Member State mayrequire the EU citizen to “register with the relevant authorities” (Article 8(1)). Article8(2) goes on to clarify that a “registration certificate shall be issued immediately [by theMember State], stating the name and address of the person registering and the date ofregistration.” The “registration certificate” is, however, all that the Directive requires.The Directive is unclear as to whether the “registration certificate” itself may or shouldcontain any additional information beyond the individual’s name, address and date ofregistration. The indications are that it should not. When originally proposing theDirective, the European Commission commented:376 Cm 6359, Identity Cards: The Government Reply to the Fourth Report from the Home Affairs CommitteeSession 2003-04 HC 130, p 10.377 Family members (whether or not EU citizens) have a corresponding right of residence if they are accompanyingor joining the EU citizen.