Hello, my name is Catherine Barnard. I'm Professor of European Union Law here at the University of Cambridge, and I'm also Senior Fellow in the UK in a Changing Europe programme.

And I'm here to talk about free movement of workers.

Now free movement of workers is one of the so-called four freedoms,

together with free movement of goods,

free movement of services and free movement of capital.

And these form the core of the so-called single market,

which a lot of British people thought is what we signed up to

back in 1973 when we joined the European Union. Now free movement of workers is really important.

About 2 million EU migrant workers are working in the UK and they're doing a range of jobs from

collecting vegetables in the fields to high-skill, high-level jobs in the NHS. You probably will have encountered a Pole or a Latvian

when you go into any of the big coffee shops.

These are people excise their rights under what's called Article 45 of the Treaty.

But it works both ways.

British people are working in other member states in France, Germany, Spain,

and they are relying on exactly the same rights that Polish people are when they're coming to the UK.

So what are the strengths and the weaknesses of free movement of persons?

Well the good things are, we are getting a large number of migrants here to do jobs that otherwise are not being filled in the UK.

They're bringing their skills and their education with them, and they're contributing to our economy,

and in fact they contribute more than they take out.

The negative side is that, of course, they are taking jobs that would otherwise possibly be done by nationals,

although that view is contested by economists.

They are perhaps creating pressure on wages, particularly at the low end.

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