A draft law on the entry and stay in Poland of EU citizens and their family members may violate European Union law and fundamental rights. Citizens of the European Union may find themselves in a worse situation than other migrants in Poland.

Association for Legal Intervention has sent comments to the draft law on the entry, stay and exit from Poland by EU citizens and their family members and some of the other draft laws proposed by the Ministry of the Interior and Administration. The draft law has been proposed mainly due to the so-called Brexit and the need for regulation of Great Britain citizens’ situation in Poland.

In the assessment of the Association for Legal Intervention, some of the proposed regulations may violate European Union law including fundamental rights. The Association is concerned primarily about:

  • The possibility of a long-term, even 18-month, detention of EU citizens and their families in guarded centres for foreigners,
  • The possibility of the expulsion of EU citizens and their family members without the assessment of the degree of their integration and possible violation of their right to family and private life in case of the expulsion.

A part of the draft law puts EU citizens and their family members in a situation worse than other migrants in Poland. Considering the broad protection which should stem from holding EU citizenship, a treaty right to free movement inside the EU, and also protection of fundamental rights, in the opinion of the Association the draft law not justified.

The draft law is available here.

You can check the opinion of the Association For Legal Intervention here.

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