Abstract
This chapter explores the tensions between the European Union’s commitment to a single European labour market in which all member state nationals are treated equally and the continuing national basis of welfare systems. In particular, it highlights the dynamics between increasingly mobile European nationals who are accessing and moving their social welfare supports across the EU, EU directives guaranteeing equal protection among member state nationals, and national welfare implementation systems which have engaged in selective ‘restriction’ policies in response to EU enlargements during the 2000s. The chapter examines the topic using a case study of Polish migration to Ireland following Poland’s accession to the EU in 2004. The chapter argues that a rise in various forms of mobility has implications for national welfare systems and for individuals’ well-being. Although European citizens have relatively easier access to host-country welfare provisions than do non-EU nationals, access by the latter continues to be shaped by economic activity and residency requirements. Within this Irish context, we show that there were attempts to qualify EU social rights with the introduction of the Habitual Residency Condition (HRC) at the time of accession in 2004. The economic crisis helped facilitate the rolling back of social rights, particularly social welfare, as evidenced by the adjustment of the HRC towards the ‘centre of interest’. These measures have served to reassert the assumption that people live in one place, with accumulating benefits to be drawn down in that same place in the event of need.
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Notes
- 1.
‘Portability’ of social protection refers to the entitlement of EU citizens to move to live and work in another EU country and to be treated in the same way as the nationals in the new place of residence as regards their welfare benefits independent of nationality and country of residence (see Avato et al. 2010 for discussion).
- 2.
Ireland did impose transitional arrangements for the 2007 accession of Romania and Bulgaria, though these have now been relaxed.
- 3.
Section 246 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 provides that ‘it shall be presumed, until the contrary is shown, that a person is not habitually resident in the State at the date of the making of the application concerned unless he has been present in the State or any other part of the Common Travel Area for a continuous period of 2 years ending on that date.’
- 4.
Section 30 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007 provides that, ‘a deciding officer or the Executive, when determining whether a person is habitually resident in the State, shall take into consideration all the circumstances of the case including, in particular, the following: (a) the length and continuity of residence in the State or in any other particular country; (b) the length and purpose of any absence from the State; (c) the nature and pattern of the person’s employment; (d) the person’s main centre of interest, and (e) the future intentions of the person concerned as they appear from all the circumstances.’
- 5.
Stakeholders interviewed included Cairde (Challenging Ethnic Minority Health Inequalities ), Focus Ireland (an organization providing support for homeless people), and Crosscare (a social-support agency that helps marginalized people in Dublin).
- 6.
The figures presented in this section were accessed through a Freedom of Information request (DSP 2013c).
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Moriarty, E., Wickham, J., Bobek, A., Daly, S. (2016). Portability of Social Protection in the European Union. In: Amelina, A., Horvath, K., Meeus, B. (eds) An Anthology of Migration and Social Transformation. IMISCOE Research Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23666-7_13
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