The right to free movement is one of the fundamental pillars of the EU, and in 2015 nearly 13 million EU citizens were living in a Member State other than their country of birth. The free movement principle concerns the right of EU citizens to seek and take up employment in any Member State and have full access to the host country’s system of social protection. Free movement, including the question of access to benefits and services, has always been contentious, and the large-scale movements that have taken place within the EU over the last 15 years have generated an unprecedented level of tension and led to numerous political discussions regarding the consequences and legitimacy of free movement.
The policy brief summarize the findings from three interrelated working papers published by the REMINDER project, funded by the EU Horizon 2020, www.reminder-project.eu. Its authors are Marcus Österman, researcher at the department of political science, Uppsala University, Joakim Palme, professor of political science at Uppsala University (UU) and Martin Ruhs, professor with the Migration Policy Center at the European University Institute (EUI), Italy, Rafael Ahlskog, researcher at Department of Government, UU, Pär Nyman, researcher and teacher at Department of Government, UU and Lutz Gschwind, doctoral/PhD student at Department of Government, UU.
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