Reflections regarding European Union Law compliance risks: on the repercussions of the French expulsion of gypsies

Authors

  • José Martín y Pérez de Nanclares

Keywords:

European Union, interior market, free circulation of people, European citizenship, group expulsions, Roma people

Abstract

The expulsion of Roma people from France in the summer of 2010 has unleashed an interesting political and academic debate regarding to what extent the essential norms of European Union Law are observed, especially in relation to the interior market and the protection of fundamental rights. This paper essentially analyses the incompatibility of the expulsions of nationals of EU member States, such as those that took place in France, with EU laws that guarantee the right to free circulation and residence, as well as the provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rights that strictly forbid group expulsions. It also addresses the risks that these kinds of actions can have in future in relation to the role of the Commission as the institution charged with safeguarding the observance of EU Law.

Issue

Section

STUDIES