GETTY The EU has ruled that Britain cannot deport jobless migrants

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David Cameron's plans to deport unemployed EU citizens have been kicked into touch by the controversial ruling, which comes as a bitter blow to his hopes of securing meaningful reform in Europe. Judges at the European Court of Justice ruled that it would be illegal for Britain to expel a jobless person from another EU country so long as they could demonstrate that they were looking for work. The ruling effectively gives EU migrants carte blanche to remain in the UK indefinitely, as it would be nearly impossible for the Government to prove that they have no prospect of finding a job. It is a hammer blow to Mr Cameron's EU reform package, one of the central planks of which was securing Britain's right to crack down on unemployed migrants. The Prime Minister had included the pledge as one of the UK's red lines for staying in the EU ahead of an in/out referendum in 2017.

GETTY Judges stated it would be illegal to deport anyone looking for a job

But judges have now ruled that four jobless Swedish nationals living in Germany "may not be expelled for as long as they can provide evidence that they are continuing to seek employment and have a genuine chance of being engaged". The ruling is binding on all EU member states and now supersedes British law. However, there was better news for Mr Cameron as the same judges also declared that countries do have the right to withhold benefits from EU migrants. They ruled that migrants who have worked for less than a year are only entitled to state handouts for six months after they are sacked.

The judges were presiding over the case of Bosnian-born Swedish national Nazifa Alimanovic, who had claimed benefits after losing her job in Germany. She and her daughter Sonita were challenging their local job centre's decision to cut off their benefits. They had both been receiving unemployment benefits plus child support for two more children - Valentina and Valentino - which were then withdrawn.

GETTY The ruling was made by judges at the European Court of Justice

In a landmark ruling the judges decided that it is not illegal for member states to withhold non-contributory benefits such as child support and disability living allowance from jobless EU citizens. They said that denying such handouts - which are not based on how much people have paid into the system through National Insurance - is acceptable because it "does not contravene the principle of equal treatment". Tory employment spokesperson in Europe, Anthea McIntyre, called the ruling "a major endorsement of our stance on benefit tourism and our views on free movement. She said: "Increasingly the rest of Europe is seeing things our way. It bodes well for one of our key areas of renegotiation." A government spokesman said it "shows we are right to restrict benefits going to EU nationals who haven't paid into the system in the UK. "It is also further supports our argument that individual member states should have the freedom to design their own welfare systems without being constantly challenged by the courts."

GETTY The pledge was a key plank of Mr Cameron's proposed reforms

Meanwhile UKIP's employment spokeswoman Jane Collins said that the case shows it is not only Britain which is dealing with the scourge of benefit tourism. She said: "Abuse of the welfare system by non-nationals is also clearly becoming an issue in Germany". "The government needs to examine this judgment closely, and if need be, look to alter the rules on habitual residence, which give EU migrants open access to many UK benefits, even though some of them in reality are not seeking work or have only worked for a very short time."