Social Security and Social Assistance

1 Under what conditions do and should intra-EU migrants have access to welfare benefits? European Union (EU) law strikes an increasingly politicized balance between free movement and national autonomy, shaping EU citizenship while impacting household and state budgets. This entry describes the legal framework for and debates on social security before turning to social assistance. 2 Social security law revolves around two questions: who owes whom social security benefits and who owes whom social security contributions? In cases that are not confined to a single...