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The REScEU Mass Survey – Infographic #5: European attitudes on freedom of movement
By Alessandro Pellegata
Public attitudes on the freedom of movement across EU borders were tapped through two different questions. The first asks how freely EU citizens should be allowed to enter the labour market of another member state
#European social union
#Posted workers directive
#REScEU survey
#Welfare
Public attitudes on the freedom of movement across EU borders were tapped through two different questions. The first asks how freely EU citizens should be allowed to enter the labour market of another member state. Overall, nearly half of the respondents (49.2%) argue that the domestic labour market should admit every legally resident citizen from the remaining member states, whereas 30.5% favour giving priority to natives, and 20.2% choose the intermediate option allowing foreigners to enter just as guest workers and only as long as they keep a job.
Poland (59.0%), Spain (49.6%) and Germany (51.0%) feature a level of support for openness above the EU6 average. The situation is different in France, where public opinion seems to be rather polarized: a relative majority (45.6%) of respondents support the notion of "French workers first", whereas 40.0% would grant access to all foreign citizens legally resident in the country. Relatively high percentages of "pro-closure" respondents can also be found in Italy (32.2%) and Spain (31.1%).
The second question focuses on the right of access to social security benefits on the part of foreigners. 42.9% of respondents in the entire sample (including the United Kingdom) opt for full openness of their national welfare to foreigners, closely followed by those who think that only EU citizens should be entitled to the same rights as nationals (38.5%). The remaining 18.6% opt for not giving foreigners any access to social security.
In Italy (55.8%), Spain (53.5%), Sweden (48.9%) and the UK (40.7%), the majority of respondents are in favour of granting foreigners unconditional access to welfare rights. By contrast, in Poland (50.8%), France (47.3%) and Germany (46.2%) the highest proportion of respondents opt for the intermediate position. The "closure" option is minoritarian in all countries surveyed. Nevertheless, in France this view is shared by slightly more than 20% of respondents and, not surprisingly, in the United Kingdom it reaches 32.4%.
Photo Credits CC Frans de Wit
The REScEU survey
This infographic is part of a series examining the results of an original seven-country mass survey conducted by REScEU. Click here to view all the contributions in the series.
Check the Survey PDF
Is free movement a threat or a boost to welfare states?
By Maria Giulia Montanari
Mobile European citizens have been repeatedly alleged to represent a burden on national welfare systems. Nevertheless, this might not emerge to be the case when one considers real data. Leaving public misperceptions about migration aside, this article points out the pros and cons of EU free movement for national welfare budgets.
The social dimension in the electoral programs of the European political groups
By Giovanni Pagano and Pietro Regazzoni
We analyzed the electoral programs published by the European political groups at the time of the 2014 and 2019 European elections, to shed light on the future path of the social dimension of the European integration.
From cosmopolitans to "Eupolitans": citizens' attitudes on welfare before and after Maastricht
By Francesco Visconti
Attitudes towards access to social security benefits have gained importance with the increased salience of EU affairs and immigration. Trans-national solidarity has been reduced from a cosmopolitan to a "Eupolitan" dimension.
The European (Social) Union is in need of a 'Social Imbalances Procedure'
By Francesco Corti, Sebastiano Sabato and Bart Vanhercke
The Social Imbalance Procedure would use the redefined indicators included in the Pillar's Social Scoreboard, in accordance with the analysis provided in the annual Joint Employment Report. Countries displaying 'critical situations' in one or more of the five policy areas mentioned above would be encouraged by the European Commission to request the Social Imbalance Procedure.
«The analysis of the network structure of the online discussion seems to confirm the presence of a double conflict between the different communities we detected, along with the "openness-closure" cleavage. The first divide would pit the Italian-speaking green and purple groups, while the second one would be between the French-speaking orange and yellow groups»
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