National Welfare Systems, Residency Requirements and EU Law: Some Brief Comments
DOI | 10.1177/138826271601800202 |
Published date | 01 June 2016 |
Date | 01 June 2016 |
Subject Matter | Article |
European Jour nal of Social Sec urity, Volume 18 (2016), No. 2 101
NATIONAL WELFARE SYSTEMS,
RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS
AND EULAW: SOME BRIEF COMMENTS
M D*
Abstract
is short pa per summarises recent developments in the ca se law of the Court of Justice
of the European Union concerning the rights to residency and equal treatment of
economically inactive migrant Union citizens. Rulings such as Dano and Alimanovic
have signalled a hardening of judicial attitudes, retreating from some of the more
generous case law delivered b y the Court in the past. at change perhaps plays to
broader political concerns about the f ree movement of Union citizens in certain Member
States – not least the United Kingdom, where such i ssues are playing a prominent role
in the public debate about whether or not to remain a Member State of the European
Union.
Keywords: European Union citizenship; free movement; residency rig hts; welfare
bene ts
e papers brought together in this spe cial issue o er a w eal th o f in sig hts into nat iona l
welfare systems and their interactions with EU law. In particular, they explore and
illuminate one of the key tensions in the eld. On the one hand, territoriality is a
central feature of many national welfare systems – especially when it comes to non-
contributory bene ts, where quali cation based on residency (whether of greater or
lesser duration) plays a crucial role in delimiting the nancial and moral limits of
a given society’s responsibilities towards the vulnerable. On t he other hand, such
residency requirements run i nto potential con ict with the f ree movement and equal
treatment rights of migra nt Union citizens. Given the signi cant expansion in the
personal and material scope, and indeed in the sheer geographical reach, of those
EUlaw rights, the potentia l for con ict has been exacerbated in two main c ategories
of situation: access by economically inactive persons to non-contributory welfare
* Professor of Europea n Law and Jean Monnet Chair in EU Law, Liverpool Law School. Addres s:
Eleanor Rathbone Bu ilding, Bedford Street South, University of Liverpool, L69 7ZA, UK; phone:
+44 151 7942805; ema il: M.Dougan@live rpool.ac.uk.
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