Britain faces fine from Brussels over immigration restrictions A Home Office spokesman said: "We disagree with the Commission's opinion, which is not binding, and we will appeal. As the Home Secretary has said at the Council of Ministers, we will not tolerate abuse of the Free Movement Directive. Politicians also questioned the basis on which the demands are being made, as well as the tight deadline. Bill Cash, the Conservative MP for Stone, said: "We have a well-established understanding of all these matters and as far as I'm concerned we comply with what has already been decided. We need to have a demonstration of what it is that we've been breaching. I don't know the basis on which they're doing this. The amount of time that they have provided is wholly inadequate in the circumstances. Under the 2004 Free Movement Directive, which Brussels says should have been implemented fully by 2006, citizens of the 27-nation bloc enjoy the right "to freely travel, live and work anywhere in the European Union." It also guarantees certain rights to non-European relatives of EU citizens, but it is claimed that Britain is denying them. Family members of EU citizens are supposed to be able to travel with them around the continent without needing a visa, but "the UK laws do not grant this important right which lies at the heart of free movement." In addition, the EC says Britain should consider granting residency rights to people who are extended family members of EU citizens. It is also claimed that the Government should require EU citizens to take out private health insurance when they move here, despite their entitlement to free NHS care, because all other European countries rely on that system. Britain's current system "breaches EU law," the EC says. Finally, Romanian and Bulgarian workers should be given the same residency documents as other EU citizens during their first 12 months in Britain, it is claimed. Colin Yeo, a specialist in immigration law at Renaissance Chambers, said the changes required were technical and would not affect many people. He wrote in a blog post: "All four of these points seem to be more a matter of realising and accessing rights than any substantive change in UK policy or practice. In some ways it looks like the UK is managing to make a mountain out of a molehill by failing to amend laws it knows are out of step with EU free movement rights. The Commission was bound to do something about it eventually.