German govt spokeswoman across the wires 18 Jan
- declines to comment on UK PM May's Brexit speech
I was always brought up to believe that if you have nothing nice to say then say nothing.
Just saying.
For those unaware, and in context with May's comments yesterday the 4 freedoms are:
1- Free movement of goods:
The free movement of goods is one of the freedoms of the single market of the European Union. Since January 1993, controls on the movement of goods within the internal market have been abolished and the European Union is now a single territory without internal frontiers. The abolition of customs tariffs promotes intra-Community trade, which accounts for a large part of the total imports and exports of the Member States.
2 -Freedom of movement of workers:
As one of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by European Union (EU) Law, freedom of movement for workers, pursuant to Article 45 TFEU (ex. Article 39 ECT), guarantees every EU citizen the right to move freely, to stay and to work in another member state. Some exceptions can only be made in the public sector. This freedom applies to all member states' citizens regardless of nationality as well as to the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). In relation to free access to labour market, this chapter considers non-discriminatory treatment of workers who are legally employed in a country other than their country of origin. It means that discrimination on the basis of nationality, residence and/or language is not permissible and it also includes equal treatment in basic employment conditions, remuneration, dismissal and the receipt of social advantages.
Furthermore, certain rights are also extended to family members of the worker. Implications and concept of this freedom have been further interpreted and developed by the case-law of the ECJ, including the notion of worker itself. Provisions related to supplementary pension rights of employed and self-employed persons moving within the EU are also included in the general principles of freedom of movement for workers.
3 - Right of establishment and freedom to provide services
It is the obligation of Member States to ensure unhampered right of establishment of EU nationals and legal persons in any Member State and the freedom to provide cross-border services. Exceptions to this rule are set out in the Treaty. Directive 2006/123 on services in the internal market ('Services Directive'), largely based on the case law of the European Court of Justice, represents the core piece of acquis in this area. The objective of this Directive is to achieve a genuine Internal Market in services. This is to be done by removing barriers (both legal and administrative) to the development of service activities between Member States.
Comprehensive examination of the Member States' current and future legal order is therefore required for achevement of this objective, and aim of the examination is to identify legal or administrative obstacles on national, regional or local level not compatible with EU law. Member States need to take a combination of legislative and non-legislative measures for the implementation of the Services Directive. As a horizontal instrument, Directive covers a broad range of different services and affects a significant number of national laws and regulations.
4 - Free movement of capital :
All restrictions on movement of capital both within the EU and between Member States and third countries have to be removed, certain exceptions aside. The acquis in this area is based on the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in particular Articles 63-66. Annex I of Directive 88/361/EEC provides the definition of the different types of capital movements.
