Towards a Just European Welfare System for Migrants?

The paper was given in the morning session of the first day of a three-day conference 'The Challenge of Migration to Legal Systems'. It subsequently informed a chapter in a book 'The Challenge of Asylum to Legal Systems' (ed Prakash Shah: London: Routledge-Cavendish, 2005). The paper examined, in particular, developments in EU and ECHR law impacting on the reception and support regime for migrants.

Against a back-drop of changes which since the 1980s have been making European welfare support regimes progressively more restrictive, the paper considered the impact of European Law on national systems, including the UK's.

After considering historical and theoretical contexts, the factors informing reforms, and the impact of EU ‘soft measures’, the paper evaluated the impact of Convention rights-based interventions on rights to support for groups like asylum claimants and family members of migrants. Consideration was also given to new developments affecting ‘free movement’ rights.