Comparing the access conditions for minimum income support in four EU member states for national, EU and non-EU citizens

ABSTRACT

This research analyses the conditions imposed on national, EU and non-EU citizens who wish to access minimum income (MI) benefits within four EU Member States, specifically within Finland, France, Ireland and Spain. The primary aim is to identify and compare the required MI access conditions. Furthermore, focus is given to the residence requisites, which are discussed in relation to relevant supranational regulations in order to detect possible multilevel implications. The paper concludes with the identification of different MI conditions, such as stricter age requisites in France and Spain. Moreover, the study of national cases allows for consideration of how the EU social protection floor works at the national level. In this regard, the restrictions that affect EU/EEA migrant jobseekers and economically inactive population groups who wish to access MI in Finland, France and Ireland show the limits of the EU minimum social assistance floor, only recognised for EU/EEA migrant workers. Finally, implications arise according to human rights instruments such as the European Social Charter, which demands that social assistance shall not be confined to nationals or to certain categories of foreigners, allowing for comparison between the different personal scopes of the equal treatment principle required by the distinct supranational levels.

KEYWORDS:

• Minimum income
• social benefits
• social assistance
• residence
• free movement
• EU citizens
• migrants

Acknowledgments

This research was conducted during a visit to the University of Edinburgh in 2018/2019. The author is grateful to Prof. Jo Shaw for the support provided during the stay and for her valuable feedback on earlier versions of this paper, as well as to Prof. Raija Huhtanen for the helpful advice regarding the Finnish regulations. The author also acknowledges the anonymous reviewers for the meticulous comments, which were very helpful in improving the manuscript. Any mistakes that remain are, of course, the sole responsibility of the author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The European Economic and Social Committee (2014) and the Social Platform (2014) have called for the adoption of an EU framework directive on MI. The European Parliament (2017a) has invited the Commission and the Member States to assess the means for providing adequate MI in all EU Member States.

2. Other benefits reduce the received amount, save a few exceptions such as the maternity allowance or work income up to 150€ (Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 1997: Sections 11 and 12).

3. Exemptions to this requisite exist for the young, aged 18–25, depending on the work record (two years of work during the last three years) or on the existence of dependents.

4. Applicants under 24 years old were affected by relevant cuts in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and different changes were implemented in 2014 for people aged 18 to 24, 25 and 26 years (Irish Minimum Income Network 2014, p. 9).

5. People who do not qualify for any other social welfare payment may qualify for basic SWA, as well as those who have claimed social welfare or pension payments while waiting for the payment.

6. Exceptions exist in case of gender violence, emancipation, etc.

7. Depending on the Community, some groups may be exempted from the registration and the period of residence, such as refugees, asylum seekers, gender violence victims coming from other Communities, etc.

8. The classification has been made based on data available from the Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare 2016, p. 38.

9. See the country reports elaborated for the European Commission by the EU Network of Independent Experts on Social Inclusion as part of the ‘Assessment of the Implementation of the European Commission Recommendation on Active Inclusion’.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the European Social Fund and the Valencian Community, under a grant for postdoctoral research APOSTD 2018. The work was included as part of the Research Project DER2016-78356-P, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.