Abstract
AbstractThis chapter analyses the welfare-migration nexus by looking at the relationship between intra-EU mobility and welfare restrictions in Southern Europe. Specifically, the chapter addresses the provision of healthcare assistance regulated by European law, exploring the extent to which the generally welcome non-labour-motivated inflows from Northern European countries to Southern Europe may lead to welfare restrictions and challenge EU citizenship as a source of equal access to welfare. The increasing demand for healthcare services by elderly EU citizens has triggered unexpected forms of welfare chauvinism in Spain, leading to restricted access to public healthcare for EU citizens without full residency in Spain. The results therefore confirm that the restrictionist turn in regulating EU citizens’ access to welfare has not been limited to South-North labour-motivated mobility, but can be easily extended to intra-EU non-labour-motivated mobility to Southern Europe. However, Spain’s inertia in revising the reimbursement procedures for healthcare treatment provided primarily to elderly European migrants also indicates that intra-EU mobility is deeply embedded in a complex system where the “protection” of public services is one state interest out of many.
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
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