Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Trimble (Crossbench). It was answered by Lord Davies of Oldham (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 January 2007.

Civil Service: EU Nationals

Question: Whether they are under an obligation by European law or European directives to grant European Union nationals access to posts in the United Kingdom Civil Service; and whether they have any plans to do so.

Answer: My Lords, the EC treaty guarantees to workers from each member state the right freely to reside and take up employment in other member states. In the United Kingdom, the European Communities (Employment in the Civil Service) Order 1991 and the European Economic Area Act 1993 had the effect of opening up Crown employment to nationals of the European economic area with the exception of those posts requiring special allegiance to the state, which are reserved for UK nationals.

Secondary information