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ECJ ruling on curbing welfare tourism should go further

Anna Sonny, 27 March 2015

European Court of Justice Advocate General Melchior Wathelet released an opinion yesterday on the circumstances under which EU nationals should be able to claim benefits in another member state country. The statement is a fine-tuning of the court decision taken in November last year, after a case was brought forward by the Federal Social Court of Germany.

A Romanian woman who lived in Germany with her son wanted to claim social benefits, despite the fact she had never worked in the country or paid any tax. In an effort to curb this sort of welfare tourism, the court confirmed that migrants who wish to claim benefits in the EU have to prove that they are either in work, have a chance of finding a job or have sufficient means to support themselves and their families.

Although the ruling was upheld as a landmark decision to stop welfare tourism, the European court decision does only affect jobless migrants — it does nothing to alter the benefits entitlement of migrants who are in work.

The second case, also brought forward by Germany, which prompted Wathelet’s opinion, concerned a Swedish woman, with three children who were born in Germany. Both the mother and her eldest daughter had previously worked and received subsistence and social allowances, but Germany stopped these payments, taking the view that as foreign jobseekers they were not entitled to them. This time Wathelet added to the decision that EU nationals should not be entitled to claim social benefits whether they are looking for work or not, but should not be denied payments if they have already worked in the country.

Despite the media hype that often surrounds the extent of welfare tourism, figures show that EU immigrants are usually net contributors to their host countries. In 2013, an EU Commission report found that approximately 4% of job seeker’s allowance claimants in the UK are EU migrants, although they represent well over 5% of those in work.

Although in reality only a small percentage of EU migrants claim unemployment benefits, it is clearly an issue that matters to the public, not just in Britain but across Europe. It will also matter to Prime Minister David Cameron, and his ability to convince voters that he can influence EU policy.

If Wathelet’s opinion is upheld by the full court and becomes binding, it will deter any EU immigrants from coming in with no plans to work; and for those who do come looking for work, it will encourage them to look harder.

 

 

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