Free movement and Welfare in the European Union: Responses to and Outcomes of EU Rules in the Universalistic, Tax-Financed Welfare State

For decades, the European legislators and the Court of Justice have extended the rights to free movement and cross-border welfare in the European Union (EU), thus establishing rules that are exceptional in comparison to the rest of the world. However, according to scholarly interpretations, the impact of these rules varies from a negative impact on welfare state sustainability to establishing transnational welfare solidarity. We argue that we need to shift away from abstract discussions of regional social transformations towards research on subsequent domestic responses and welfare policy outcomes affected by these trends. Theoretically, we expect that these subsequent domestic processes fill the details of incomplete regional contracts and thus condition outcomes. This article empirically examines responses and outcomes for the universalistic, tax-financed welfare state, exemplified in Denmark. Based on a unique set of administrative data, examine the de facto outcomes of regional integration by analysing repeated cross sections of all EU citizens residing in Denmark between 2002-2013 and their use of social assistance and study grants. We find that domestic responses have been restrictive and that outcomes have been limited despite considerable changes in EU rules and rights.