The principle of free movement within the EU should only apply to those with a job, Home Secretary Theresa May says.
Free movement originally meant “freedom to move to a job,” not to look for work or claim benefits, she wrote in the Sunday Times.
“We must take some big decisions, face down powerful interests and reinstate the original principle”, she added.
Mrs May also said this summer’s migrant crisis had been “exacerbated by the European system of no borders”.
Her comments come days after official statistics showed net migration to the UK is at an all-time high, reaching 330,000 in the year to March.
The figure - the difference between the number entering the country and those leaving - is more than three times higher than the government’s target.
Mrs May said the figure was “far too high” and “simply unsustainable”.
The “biggest single factor” stopping the government achieving its aim of reducing net migration to the tens of thousands was net migration from the EU, she argued.
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The migrant crisis has been “exacerbated” by the existence of the Schengen area, Mrs May argued
Mrs May also argued the EU’s open border policy had made the migrant crisis worse.
More than 300,000 migrants have risked their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year, according to the UN.
‘Wake-up call’
Mrs May wrote: "The most tragic consequences of a broken European migration system have been borne by those at risk of exploitation.
"And the greatest beneficiaries have been the callous gangs who sell false dreams…
“As countries in Europe are increasingly realising, these tragedies have been exacerbated by the European system of no borders, the Schengen area, in which the UK has never taken part.”
She said the crisis was a “wake-up call for the EU”.
“Its leaders must consider the consequences of uncontrolled migration - on wages, jobs and social cohesion of the destination nations; on the economies and societies of the rest; and on the lives and welfare of those who seek to come here,” she said.
Mrs May also said “rigorous control” of the UK’s student migration system had helped reduce the number of further education visa applications, while the number studying at top universities had gone up.
But she said last week’s figures “clearly show that too many students are not here temporarily”.
She said the government must “break the link between short-term study and permanent settlement” in the UK.
这会对学生签证有何进一步影响？会影响正在申请永居的人么？