Freedom of movement for workers in the European Union the European Coal and Steel Community established a right to free movement for workers in these industries and the Treaty of Rome (1957) provided a right for the free movement of workers within the European Economic Community. The Directive 2004/38/EC on the right to move and reside freely assembles the different aspects of the right of movement in one document, replacing "inter alia" the directive 1968/360/EEC. It also clarifies procedural issues, and it strengthens the rights of family members of European citizens using the freedom of movement. According to the official site of the European Parliament, the explanation of the
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union the drafters of the EEC Treaty wished to eschew any implicitly political elements. However, the idea that the purely economic end of the new EEC Treaty would be unlikely to have any implications for fundamental rights was soon to be tested. Soon after the entry into force of the EEC Treaty, the Community established itself as a major political entity with policy ramifications beyond its economic aims. In 1964, the European Court of Justice handed down its decision in "Costa v ENEL", in which the Court decided that Union law should take precedence over conflicting national law. This meant that