EU Citizenship: Access to Social Benefits in other EU Member States

Abstract

As the result of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on EU citizenship provisions, even citizens who are not economically active have access to social benefits in a country other than that of origin. Is it justified to connect such effects to EU citizenship, even though EU citizenship does not yet have an identity of its own? In this contribution the case law is analysed and it is argued that because of the objective justification that Member States can still offer for limiting access to their systems, more precisely by the link they may require between the claimant and their community, the case law fits well in the system for achieving the free movement of persons. This 'link approach' is a better explanation for the consistency of the case law than an explanation based on cross-border solidarity or a special identity relating to EU citizenship.