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THE LIMITS OF SOǧCALLED BENEFIT TOURISM AND THE FREE MOVEMENT OF EU CITIZENS
The CJEU therefore concluded that the system of “social assistance” within the
meaning of Article 7, paragraph 1 of Directive 2004/38 cannot be limited to the
very narrow concept of social assistance within the meaning of Article 3, paragraph 5
of Regulation 883/2004. In this broader sense, compensatory supplements under
Austrian law clearly belong to the category of “social assistance” in accordance with
Directive 2004/38. To the delight of the intervening national governments, the
CJEU in paragraph 63 of its judgment further admitted that the mere application
of an inactive EU citizen for the compensatory supplement may be evidence that
the person concerned does not have sufficient resources and, therefore, represents an
unreasonable burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State.
However, in the very next paragraph of its judgment the CJEU significantly
relativized this conclusion, when it stated that the decision on whether the migrating
EU citizen represents a disproportionate burden on the Member State cannot be
made without considering the specific circumstances of his case. In its verdict the
CJEU explained that the Member State has to take into account the “specific burden
which granting that benefit would place on the national social assistance system as
a whole”. What shall this combination of an individual assessment of the particular
case and an overall assessment of the burden on the social welfare system mean in
practice? In this context, it should be pointed out that Recitals 10 and 16 of the
Preamble to Directive 2004/38, unlike Article 7, paragraph 1 of the Directive, do
not use the term “burden on the social assistance system”, but the term “unreasonable
burden on the social assistance system”.
Recital 16 of the Preamble mentions the following criteria of evaluation: the
temporariness of difficulties, the length of stay, the personal circumstances of the
Union citizen and the amount of aid granted. The principle of individual assessment
corresponds to Article 8, paragraph 4 of Directive 2004/38, according to which a
Member State may not lay down a fixed amount which is considered as “sufficient
resources” but it must take into account the personal situation of the person
concerned. According to the CJEU, a Member State may state a certain sum as a
point of reference, which may be based upon the minimum income, according to
which nationals of the host Member State become eligible for social assistance.
Even more difficult than studying and taking into account the circumstances
of the individual case is the determination of the impact of granting a social benefit
to a concrete EU citizen on the overall system of social assistance in the Member
State. By reference to the concept of “unreasonable burden” within the meaning
of Recitals 10 and 16 of the Preamble of Directive 2004/38 the CJEU came to
the somewhat adventurous conclusion that Directive 2004/38 “recognises a certain
degree of financial solidarity between nationals of a host Member State and nationals
of other Member States”.
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C-140/12, paragraph 72.