From Negligence to Resistance: Danish Welfare in the Light of Free-Movement Law
| Author | Catherine Jacqueson |
| Published date | 01 June 2016 |
| Date | 01 June 2016 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/138826271601800206 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
European Jour nal of Social Sec urity, Volume 18 (2016), No. 2 183
FROM NEGLIGENCE TO RESISTANCE:
DANISH WELFARE IN THE LIGHT OF
FREE-MOVEMENT LAW
C J*
Abstract
e Danish welfare system i s famous for being a universal system covering all residents
with generous bene ts nanced through general taxes. is is at lea st true for bene ts
such as social assistance, health care and the state retirement pension which are
discussed here. is article analyses the implications of EU free movement l aw on
residence-based welfare rig hts in Denmark. It argues that EUl aw has not led to major
legal and policy changes. Yet Denmark has been quick o the mark in picking up on
EUrestrictions and in erecting safeguards for residence -based schemes as demonstrated
by the discussion of the state-retirement pension and social assistance in this article.
On the other hand, it ha s been slow in implementing EUlaw on extending health cover
to scheduled treatments received in other Member States. While the Danish position
has, for a long time, been that EUlaw does not a ect the Danish welfare model, public
discourse has recently changed with allegations of EUlaw leading to social dumping
and bene t tourism. is article concludes that a search for a legal bal ance between free
movement and national welfare is still in the making.
Keywords: EUlimitations; ex port of health care; rest rictive interpretation; scepticism;
social assist ance; state retirement pension; welfare state; universa lity
1. THE DANISH WELFARE MODEL, IMMIGRATION AND
THE EU
e Danish welfare system is famous for being one of the most generous in Europe.
Roughly speaking, unli ke its continental counterparts in Germany and France, the
Danish model builds on universal coverage in respect of most bene ts such as social
* Associate Profes sor in EUl aw, Centre for Legal Stud ies in Welfare and Ma rket (WELMA), Law
Facult y, University of Copenhag en. Address : Studiest ræde 6, 1455 Køb enhavn K, Denmark; phone:
+45 35 32 35 97; ema il: Cather ine.Jacqueson@ jur.ku.dk . is pap er is partly inspired by work done
for the EUresearch prog ramme bEUcitizen ( WP 6 on social right s), see further w ww.beucitizen.eu .
Catherine Jacq ueson
184 Intersentia
assistance, hea lth care and state retirement pension. In principle, all citizens who
lawfully reside in Denmark are entitled to these bene ts.1 Another characteristic
feature of the Danish welfare system is that most welfare bene ts and services, such
as those mentioned above, are nanced mainly through genera l taxes and therefore
do not impose much of a burden on employers. Contribution-based entitlement rst
played a signi c ant r ole w it h the int rodu cti on of work pens ions nanced by employers
and employees in the 1990’s.
When Denmark joined the EU in 1973, public- nanced welfare was booming:
social rights for the weakest were extended to everyone and the level of bene ts was
increased.2 As a result of the economic crisis and the explosion of public expenditure
in the 1980’s and 1990’s, some welfare bene ts were subsequently reduced, a bolished
or made subject to strict conditions.3 Unemployment fell dramatically bet ween 1993
and 2008, probably due to the Danish exicurity model, which is based on the three
pillars of: (1) exibility of the employer to ‘ re’ employees, (2) a relatively high level
of compensation to the redundant employee and (3) ‘activation’ of the unemployed.4
Most experts agree t hat EU ‘social law’ only had a very limited impact on the reforms
of the Danish welfare model in this period.5 On t he other hand, Denmark sees itself
as a source of inspiration to the EU, especia lly through the exicurity model that it
pioneered.
Looking at imm igration patterns, Denmark was, until the 1960s, a relatively
homogeneous country with lit tle immigration. e picture changed dramatically
with the adoption of a libera l policy towards immigration and family reuni cation
in the 1980’s that favoured the arrival of asylum seekers. Many of them had low
educ ation and sk il ls and /or psy cholog ica l probl ems ma kin g them unab le to wo rk and ,
as a result, they cla imed social a ssistance.6 Immigration ows from third countries
were rst restricted at the end of the 1990’s to those who were able to contribute to
the labour market.7 Politicians, the med ia and the population’s view on immigration
– especially towards third country nationals but also towards Union citizens since
enlargement of 2004 – is currently negatively framed a nd the tone in recent years
has become harsh. Whi le the Danish position has for long been that EUlaw does not
a ect the Danish welfare model, public discourse has recently changed with claims
that EUfree movement law has led to social dumping a nd bene t tourism.
e speci c characteristics of the Danish welfare system, universality and tax-
nanced welfare, render it particularly sensitive to migration. In an EUlaw context,
1 With the exception of the stat e retirement pension, which (still) refer s to Danish nationalit y but is
not applicable to Union citiz ens.
2 M (2010: 554).
3 For further detai ls on this ’reform’ period, see M (2010).
4 M (2010: 566).
5 Ibid: 509–512.
6 Ibid: 174–175 and 225–239.
7 Ibid: 454–477.
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