The European Communityand#8217;s successes and failures in guaranteeing the fundamental right to free movement of persons continue to develop against the backgrounds of domestic civil rights and international human rights obligations. Although often justified merely in terms of economic efficiency, non-discriminatory rights and freedoms of movement can be seen as constituting an essential component of the legal foundation of all European projects, and as a powerful force in the forging of a new European identity beyond the traditional nation-state.

The present...