(Reuters) – The European Commission said on Monday it had referred two cases against Britain concerning free movement of EU citizens and investment treaties to the EU Court of Justice.
The Commission said London had failed to comply with European Union law on the free movement of EU citizens at the end of 2020, after Britain had formally left the bloc.
Britain also failed to terminate bilateral investment treaties with six EU member states that were seen to overlap and conflict with EU law, the Commission said.
The withdrawal agreement that settled Britain’s exit from the EU protects the residence rights of EU citizens who exercised their free movement rights in the United Kingdom at the end of 2020.
The Commission, the EU’s executive arm, can ask the court to impose penalties. If the court finds that a country has breached EU law, national authorities must take action to comply with its judgment.
Britain’s governing Labour Party, which was out of power for 14 years before winning a July election, is looking to reset ties with the EU. Labour has criticised the Conservatives for their handling of Brexit talks, accusing them of damaging EU relations while in government.
“These (court) cases relate to issues from when the UK was an EU member state and during the transition period. We are not going to comment further on legal proceedings,” a UK government spokesperson said in a statement on the Commission’s move.
“We remain focused on working to reset our relationship with the EU and to make Brexit work for the British people.”
(Reporting by Bart Meijer, additional reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Gareth Jones)
