Welcoming the New Arrivals? A Critical Analysis of the Impact of 'Europe' on the UK's Welfare Support Regime for Migrants and their Family Members

Against a back-drop of changes which since the 1980s have been making the UK's welfare support
regime for migrants 1 progressively more restrictive, the research programme critically
analysed the impact of European Law, namely EU Law and the European Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and FundamentalFreedoms (the ECHR), on
lhe regime.The enquiry was undertaken in the research period 2003-2011.

After considering historical and theoretical contexts, the factors informing reforms to the regime,
and the impact of EU 'soft measure:;' at the. start of the research period, the research
examined the impact of Convention rights-based interventions following entry into operation of the
UK's Human Rights Act 1998 (from October 2000). It sought to establish whether this could be said
to amount to a 'safety-net' for claimants without a substantive right to welfare support, in some
cases as a result of restrictions linked to immigration status.

Consideration was then given to EU Law aspects, including 'free movement' rights, and the rights
under EU Law of new arrivals from other Member States.This analysed the impact of the UK's
restrictions on support from 1"1 May 2004 affecting nationals from the AS and A2 countries coming
to the UK.This area.of the programme included an analysis of the impact of expectations that
claimants should 'reciprocate' for their support and 'contribute' by·laking up employment
opportunities and helping to meet the labour market's needs. Comparisons
were made with approaches taken by the two other countries admitting such nations in 2004, Sweden
and Ireland. The enquiry then focused on the UK's scheme of implementation of · Directive 2004/38
on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely in the
Member states. Much of the enquiry focused on distinctive features of the scheme such as the
operation of the 'right to reside', including requirements that claimants must normally be
·economically active' or self-sufficient, and the courts' role in interpreting and applying the
scheme, and dealing with challenges based on 'proportionality' and discrimination arguments.

Collectively, the works informed by the research provide a critical analysis of the UK support
regime's development in the areas referred to. Conclusions are provided in the 'Research
Conclusions' section of this Critical Appraisal.

1 For the pUfP03es of the reeearch programme and this critical appraisaJ.the term ·migrant'
encompasses those wllo are not
Ellitlh ell ens.lllncludes asylum seekoiS, EEA nationals,and non-EEA ""l!onals, and <OOends to
migrants'family members.