Untangling the Truth Behind Benefit Claims for Migrants Across Europe and In the UK

Often, if you put the word Euro in front of something, it will send people into a state of panic. Eurozone, Eurosceptic, Eurovision – what does it all mean? And now we have the European Union Deal. The deal is essentially a way for David Cameron to make changes to the UK's legal bindings with the EU, before the Brexit referendum is held later this year. Cameron is hoping that this will make it more likely for the British public to vote to stay with our pals in Brussels.

In November last year, the PM set out his demands and on Tuesday some of theses changes were approved by European council president, Donald Tusk, including an "emergency brake" on in-work benefits for EU migrants for up to four years, and the curbing of benefits such as tax credits for up to four years, in order to reduce immigration. However, these changes still need to be approved by European Parliament.

So, just over 3million EU-born people living in the UK are probably wondering what this could mean for them. Then there are the 1million or so UK citizens living all over the EU. Are they getting their benefits cut too? We asked immigration expert Marley Morris, who is a research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, to tell us more.

VICE: What are the benefits UK citizens receive when they live in an EU country?
Marley Morris: The benefits UK citizens receive in other EU countries depend on the national systems but there are some EU-wide laws – these are the laws that the new EU deal is mainly concerned with.

Under EU law, there is a distinction between two types of benefits. Firstly there are social assistance benefits, which are typically means-tested – they are concerned with raising you up to the minimum standard of living if you haven't got any support. Secondly, there are social security benefits that are typically contribution-based – you pay in through an insurance scheme and then get something out at some point.

Can you explain what "contribution-based" means?
With social security benefits, say you're a UK citizen and you go to work in Sweden or Germany or countries that have quite generous unemployment insurance systems. You can use the time you were working previously back in the UK or in any EU country in order to claim unemployment insurance. It can be quite generous – up to 60/70 percent of your salary; it depends on the country you arrive in.

Can EU migrants get those contribution-based benefits when they come to the UK?
The UK system is a bit different to other countries because it is less contributory. With the UK system, you don't get the same generous unemployment insurance that you might get in other EU countries. If you lose your job, you typically either get income-based job seekers' allowance or you get contribution-based job seekers' allowance, although this is changing with the introduction of universal credit contribution, and jobseekers' allowance is not paid at a particularly generous rate – it is not a percentage of your salary.

What about social-assisted benefits?
Unemployment assistance, including universal credit in the UK, is normally paid in other countries at a much less generous rate.

Unemployment assistance is a more contested benefit – they are now much easier to restrict. The European Court of Justice has recently said (in the Dano and Alimanovic rulings) that it is legal for EU member states to curb unemployment assistance benefits in some circumstance. The new universal credit in the UK is classified as a social assistance benefit, so it will be okay under EU law to restrict those benefits to some people who are not working, i.e. first-time job-seekers.

It's worth saying that some benefits can also be exported. For instance, in some cases, jobseekers going to other EU countries to look for work can export their former country's unemployment benefits for a certain period while looking for work.

What about in-work benefits? Are UK citizens eligible for in-work benefits in other EU countries?
Yes. This is the key issue in the discussions yesterday. I think the main thing in a way for me is that in-work benefits are not so significant in EU countries other than the UK and Ireland. In EU countries, they don't exist to such a degree. In the UK, we have in-work benefits and tax credits to top up wages.

Will curbing benefits actually reduce the flow of migrants?
No, I don't think it will have a big impact on the flow of migrants from the EU, for a number of reasons. First, the proposal itself is limited in scope – it is only used in particular emergency situations. It's unclear how easy it's going to be to pull this emergency brake on benefits, or whether other member states or the European Parliament will agree on this. Secondly, there is very little evidence to suggest that EU migrants are moving to the UK in order to claim these benefits. Obviously it's going to improve their wages, so it will have some kind of financial incentive, but it's not clear if it will really have an impact – the minimum wage is going up anyway.

So the idea that we need to stop EU migrants getting benefits is wrong?
I don't think it's unreasonable to want to have a benefits system where people contribute before they can claim benefits. But it is misleading to make the case that changing the system is actually going to reduce migration from the rest of the EU. Because there isn't any evidence to suggest that would happen.

In other EU countries, do UK citizens have to contribute before they can claim benefits?
It's hard to say because there are different systems. I don't think there is any strong evidence to show that UK nationals are losing out, especially in other EU countries or being treated more fairly or less fairly. Roughly speaking the rules apply across the EU. For instance, any country could apply to pull the emergency brake on restricting in-work benefits if they so wished. In that sense they are not unfair.

Do other EU countries have issues with the benefits claimed by migrants?
Typically speaking, the concerns of other countries have been about benefit tourism or exploitation of the welfare system, focusing on the benefits people get who are economically inactive, not on people who are working, which is why Cameron is coming up with so many issues. If he was focusing on unemployment benefits, he wouldn't have so much opposition.

As you said, in-work benefits provide a necessary top-up for people working in the UK.
Yes, I have a feeling that the response from the EU to the UK proposal might be, well, sort out your low minimum wage! This would sort out the UK problem whereby we have to top up our wages by tax credits and benefits.

Thanks!

@ameliadmz

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