Free Movement of Persons Within the European Community: Cross-Border Access to Public Benefits

This book explores the extent to which European Community law confers upon individuals the right to gain access to public services in other Member States. Are European citizens and third country nationals who have moved to other Member States entitled to claim minimum subsistence benefits,to receive medical care or to be admitted to education? Does Community law provide for a freedom of movement for patients, students and persons in need of social welfare benefits? If so, to what extent does Community law have regard for the Member States’ fears for, and concerns about, welfare tourism? Besides addressing numerous detailed questions on the precise degree to which Community law allows for cross-border access to public services, the author analyses how Community law, and the Court of Justice in particular, have sought to reconcile the Community’s objectives of realising freedom of movement and ensuring equality of treatment with the need to develop and maintain adequate social services within the Community. In addition, the book contains a detailed analysis of United States constitutional law on cross-border access to public services, exploring the question whether the European Community can possibly learn from the American experience.