Introduction

Labour migration is as old as the hills. Workers move from areas of high unemployment to those regions where jobs are more plentiful. While economists highlight the economic benefits of labour migration, labour lawyers are more concerned with the rights and entitlements of those individuals – and their families – who have moved. Since its inception, the European Union has provided a structured framework in which transnational migration can occur, principally through the provisions of the European Community Treaty establishing the right of free movement of persons. These provisions enshrine so-called “fundamental freedoms” which grant individuals both the right to move and the right to claim certain welfare benefits in the host state on the same terms as nationals. This is a highly sensitive area. The aim of this paper is to question the basis on which mobility rights have been granted before examining whether the situation in the EU is unique and whether it has wider lessons for international migration.

Free movement of workers

Although the original EEC Treaty talked of free movement of persons, reference to the free movement of persons was misleading: The original Treaty gave no general right of free movement for all persons. To enjoy such a right, the individual had to hold the nationality of one of the member states (with nationality being a matter for national – not Community – law) and be economically active either as a worker under Article 39(1), or as a self-employed person under Article 43.