scholarly journals Renegotiating the European Union’s free movement and social security coordination policies: Britain’s approaches and interests

Author(s):  
Thomas Milton

The EU’s freedom of movement has increasingly been brought into question in the last few years as member states have restricted social benefits for EU migrants. Britain proposed in-work benefit restrictions for economically active EU migrants in intergovernmental negotiations leading up to the referendum on its membership to the EU. Access to social benefits is an important component of free movement. It provides EU citizens with social rights in host member states, which promotes internal migration. Restricting free movement threatens European integration because it is a fundamental EU treaty right. This article analyses Britain’s preferences towards the EU’s free movement and social security coordination policies leading up to the Brexit referendum. Britain’s identity, and conceptions of statehood and European.

SEER ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-58
Author(s):  
Frederic De Wispelaere ◽  
Gabriella Berki ◽  
Snjezana Balokovic

This article discusses the potential impact of the free movement of persons in the EU on the Montenegrin social security system. It can be argued that three variables will be of great importance: 1) mobility between Montenegro and other EU member states; 2) social security legislation in Montenegro; and 3) the social security Coordination Regulations. The scale of migration will be highly dependent on whether there are transitional arrangements and whether neighbouring countries, not least Serbia, join the EU at the same time. In order to avoid an erosion of the workforce and consequently of people paying taxes in Montenegro, it might be useful to negotiate transitional arrangements as well as to promote oth er types of labour mobility, such as intra-EU posting. Furthermore, it can be expected that Montenegro’s accession will have financial and administrative implications in the area of healthcare. After all, accession to the EU will lead to a further increase in the number of tourists and thus of the amount that Montenegro will have to recover from member states if unplanned healthcare has been provided in Montenegro.


2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 503-518
Author(s):  
Janja Hojnik

This article deals with the impact of the EU’s endeavours to achieve financial market integration and the free movement of capital on rules of the Member States that limit autonomy of public bodies when making investment decisions. These rules have direct importance for rules such as those applicable in Slovenia which require 1,500 public entities to invest their liquid assets exceeding EUR 100,000 solely in securities of the Republic of Slovenia and not in securities of other EU Member States. In this case, they are obliged to offer their liquid assets first to the Ministry of Finance, thereby running the risk that such liquid assets would be decommitted and allocated to other public purposes. The aim of this article is to develop arguments to the effect that, in the light of the freedom of movement of capital as construed by the Court of Justice of the EU, especially in the recent case concerning Polish open pension funds (OPFs) the investment policy of indirect budget spending units should be more open – not only from the viewpoint of ensuring the EU single market but mainly from the perspective of the profitability of public finance. The security of investments can also be achieved in ways other than closing the investment market for all public entities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Bruzelius

This article stresses the need to study how European Union (EU) member states define and implement the concept of habitual residence to assess boundaries of welfare in the EU. It focuses specifically on EU migrant citizens’ social rights and draws on comparative qualitative research on two EU member states – Germany and Sweden. The article first clarifies the differences between legal and habitual residence, and distinguishes between legal definitions of habitual residence and administrative formalities tied to such definitions. After examining legal definitions at the EU level, it goes on to consider additional definitions found in each member state case and administrative formalities attached to these definitions. Following this, implications for EU migrant citizens’ social rights in each country are assessed. The analysis reveals how administrative processes of residence registration shape conditionality. In this way, administrative aspects of habitual residence can have far-reaching exclusive effects on EU migrant citizens’ access to social benefits and services in the destination member state, as well as inhibit their ability to enjoy their right to freedom of movement. The article thus illustrates the inherent tension between free movement and residence-based social rights in a Union with devolved social provision.


Author(s):  
Dunja Duić ◽  
Veronika Sudar

The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak is being endured throughout the world, and the European Union (EU) is no exception. The rapid spreading of the virus effected, among other things, restriction on the freedom of movement. The EU member states introduced national response measures to contain the pandemic and protect public health. While broadly similar, the measures differ with regard to strictness and the manner of introduction, reflecting the political legitimacy of the respective country. With the ‘Guidelines concerning the exercise of the free movement of workers during COVID-19 outbreak’ – its first COVID-19-related Communication – the European Commission (EC) attempted to curb differing practices of the EU member states and ensure a coordinated approach. Ultimately, this action was aimed at upholding of fundamental rights as guaranteed to EU citizens, one such being the freedom of movement. Thus, from the very start of the pandemic, the coordinated actions of EU institutions sought to contain the spread of COVID-19 infections with the support and cooperation of EU member states. This is confirmed by the most recent Council of the EU (Council) recommendation on a coordinated approach to restrictions to freedom of movement within the EU of October 2020. While they did prevent the spread of infection and save countless lives, the movement restriction measures and the resulting uncertainty have greatly affected the people, the society, and the economy, thereby demonstrating that they cannot remain in force for an extended period. This paper examines the measures introduced by EU member states and analyses the legal basis for introducing therewith limitations on human rights and market freedoms. To what extent are the EU and member states authorized to introduce restrictions on the freedom of movement in the interest of public health? Have the EU and member states breached their obligations regarding market freedoms and fundamental rights under the Treaty? And most importantly: have they endangered the fundamental rights of the citizens of the EU?


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Nunin

The freedom of movement of workers as one of the four main pillars of the EU can be defined as a neutral principle, which ensures its use in both the economic area for which it was created and also the social area. This paper focuses on Italy’s response with regard to implementing this principle in the last two rounds of EU enlargement in 2004 and 2007. This rule guarantees workers freedom of movement, including the elimination of any discrimination on the basis of the nationality of workers from member states with regard to employment, pay, and other work and employment conditions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 110-120
Author(s):  
Daniela Guimarães

This article seeks to analyse the impact of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) decision in the Dano judgement concerning the free movement of EU citizens and their cross-border access to social benefits. The debate about social tourism or welfare migration has been acrimonious in the last years. The Member States face new challenges concerning the possibility of excluding economically inactive European Union (EU) citizens from other Member States from special non-contributory social benefits. However, if on one hand we have the need to protect the financial sustainability of the Member States, as non-active EU citizens from other Member States can represent a burden on their social assistance systems, on the other hand, we also need to respect one of the EU’s most basilar principles: the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of nationality. The CJEU has decided that the economically nonactive citizens of other Member States can only claim equal treatment in regard to access to social benefits, when they have a right of residence under Directive 2004/38 in the host Member State.


Author(s):  
Natalia Popova

The concept of Europeanization has become quite fashionable in EU studies in recent years. It is often used for the analysis of the relations between the EU and non-member states. The aim of the article is to examine the possibilities of its application in explaining the relationship between the EU and Ukraine. The structure of the article is as follows: firstly, the concept of Europeanization is defined considering such two disputable issues as distinguishing among concepts of Europeanization and European integration as well as Europeanization and EU-ization. Next, the evolution of the theoretical research of Europeanization and definition of this concept are analyzed. Two main mechanisms of Europeanization (conditionality and socialization) are examined. The author considers main approaches to the analysis of the "external" Europeanization emphasizing the concept of "external governance". Three groups of factors which influence the effectiveness of Europeanization are briefly analyzed. And finally, the peculiarities of application of the Europeanization concept to the Ukraine-EU relations are outlined. Keywords: EU, Ukraine, Europeanization, EU-ization, ‘external’ Europeanization, conditionality, socialization, concept of ‘external governance’


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Belinda Brucker Juricic ◽  
Mario Galic ◽  
Sasa Marenjak

This paper reviews the recent literature on skill and labour shortages in the labour market with special emphasis on the construction sector in the European Union Member States, foreseeing the Construction 4.0 era. The free movement of people is one of the rights of all citizens of the EU which also includes the free movement of workers. Labour shortages in the EU are expected to increase in the future due to a declining population and an ageing workforce. In order to recognize and forecast labour shortages, EU Member states use a variety of instruments but they do not answer as to whether it is possible to use migrant labour to appease those shortages. There are several systems used to classify labour shortages in the EU Member states. Most of the countries classify labour shortages in relation to different sectors or occupation groups as well as by skill levels, but in some Member States, classification is made according to the type of employment. Instruments used to measure labour shortages significantly differ from country to country. Several criteria are used for creating lists of shortage occupations and most of the criteria include demand side and supply side criteria. A majority of the Member States are facing labour and skill shortages in various sectors and the construction sector is not an exception. As total employment in the construction sector decreased, so did the share of employed migrants. Labour shortages in the construction sector can be eased by the availability of a labour supply willing to accept unqualified and low-paying jobs. The construction sector seeks low-, medium-, and high-skilled individuals and is most likely the sector where most of the incoming migrants will be working, which has an impact on the development and implementation dynamic of Construction 4.0.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-187
Author(s):  
Pauline Melin

In a 2012 Communication, the European Commission described the current approach to social security coordination with third countries as ‘patchy’. The European Commission proposed to address that patchiness by developing a common EU approach to social security coordination with third countries whereby the Member States would cooperate more with each other when concluding bilateral agreements with third countries. This article aims to explore the policy agenda of the European Commission in that field by conducting a comparative legal analysis of the Member States’ bilateral agreements with India. The idea behind the comparative legal analysis is to determine whether (1) there are common grounds between the Member States’ approaches, and (2) based on these common grounds, it is possible to suggest a common EU approach. India is taken as a third-country case study due to its labour migration and investment potential for the European Union. In addition, there are currently 12 Member State bilateral agreements with India and no instrument at the EU level on social security coordination with India. Therefore, there is a potential need for a common EU approach to social security coordination with India. Based on the comparative legal analysis of the Member States’ bilateral agreements with India, this article ends by outlining the content of a potential future common EU approach.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 406
Author(s):  
Sergiy Dubchak ◽  
Valentyna Goshovska ◽  
Volodymyr Goshovskyi ◽  
Oleksandr Svetlychny ◽  
Olena Gulac

The article is devoted to the analysis of legal regulation of the sphere of nuclear safety and security of Ukraine on the way to European integration. The authors drew attention to the importance of Ukraine achieving the necessary level of and nuclear sefaty and security adopted in the EU member states. The emphasis was placed on the fact that the prospects for fulfilling national obligations in the field of nuclear safety in accordance with European standards directly depend on solving the problems of ensuring the functioning of nuclear facilities, the physical protection of nuclear materials and installations as well as radioactive waste management. The main directions of ensuring the nuclear safety and secutiry in the world within the international law are considered. The role and activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in setting up a regulatory framework for nuclear safety and security are analyzed. The international legal framework for nuclear safety and security was discused.The legislative basis for nuclear safety and secutiry in the EU IS characterized. The issue of legal norms unification in the field of nuclear safety regulation of EU member states was considered. The principles of legal regulation of nuclear a safety and security in Ukraine are characterized. Key words: nuclear safety, nuclear security, public administration of nuclear safety and security, legal regulation of nuclear safety and security, European integration, sustainable development in the field of ensuring nuclear safety and security. UDC 35:574:339.9:349.6        JEL Classification: K 23, K 32, K 33,  Q 5


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