On 1 February 2017, the EEA Regulations 2006 were revoked and replaced by the EEA Regulations 2016.

The Home Office position is this: “EEA Regulations 2016 in large part consolidate and clarify the provisions, modernise the language used and simplify terms where possible in line with current drafting practice. The EEA Regulations 2016 reflect the margin of appreciation enjoyed by member states to determine their own requirements of public policy and public security, for their own purposes, from time to time. They also make a number of substantive changes, including in respect of public policy and public security decisions”.

The effect and impact of these sweeping new changes upon EEA nationals and their family members,  is that they are  highly liable to  removal, expulsion or deportation: not only for failure to exercise treaty  rights in the UK,  but also for   engaging  in certain types of behaviour. The reach of the new regulations is such that  even those with impending prosecutions  as well as those who have not  committed any crime  may be  caught by the new changes,  purely on  the basis of  decisions  which can be taken on preventative grounds.

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