Wanderer wrote:So I would make the right of legal residence dependant on age - 18 - under that u have the same rights as the parent/carer looking after you, ie not many if u abuse the system.
And why would you give adults the right to move and prosper, but not children? I think that on the contrary they deserve additional protection, exactly because they are so often used as pawns in international games. I agree that we cannot provide the best possible circumstances for every child, but we can certainly try for the European children. (And this case is about European children.)
In fact I'd maybe go a step farther, make it so BC is only conferred to the children of those born here who are legal residents at time of the birth.
That is already the case, in fact the parents are required to have Permanent Residence or ILR before the child can become BC.
Much as I love the concept of the EU and freedom of movement, I fear the tree-huggers have got hold and unless drastic measures are taken, the EU will sink supporting all these spongers.
I am more worried that children are used as a means to an end. History and even some present societies are full of such cases, and they cause a lot of suffering. Some hurdles are necessary to prevent this, such as required minimum residence or schooling periods etc.