17 January 2016

Financial Times: UK benefit reform demands appeal to rest of EU

At least five countries in the bloc are looking at taking advantage of Mr Cameron’s initiative in a sign that Britain’s EU negotiation is nearing its climax with the most hotly-debated elements — including a waiting time to access certain benefits — gaining wider appeal.

This suggests Mr Cameron is on course to secure a package of concessions on migration at a February 18 summit, including benefit restrictions and possibly an “emergency brake” to limit numbers during surges. This will allow him to call the EU membership referendum for June or July.

Austria, Denmark, France, Germany and the Netherlands see the British reforms as potentially offering new policy opportunities, in the face of pressure from populist and Eurosceptic opposition parties. “We will find it impossible to resist,” said one senior official from one of the countries, who is involved in the UK negotiations.

Even with the political will to find a deal for Mr Cameron, negotiations remain hard. Almost all EU leaders have rejected his original plan for a four-year ban on migrant workers accessing benefits; diplomats are scrambling to find an alternative compliant with the EU’s non-discrimination principles.

Negotiators are working on welfare measures that are potentially pan-European, rather than specifically tailored for Britain. The use beyond one country is encouraging for London but does carry the risk that Poland and other EU exporters of workers may become even warier. “It makes it even more important that the deal is proportionate,” said one eurozone official, noting that eastern European countries would not allow nakedly discriminatory measures.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, raised the idea of revisiting the “definition of a worker” in talks with Mr Cameron, according to two officials familiar with the conversation. [...]

The Netherlands and Austria have long wanted to tighten migrant access to social assistance and curb so-called “benefit tourism”. Sebastian Kurz, Austria’s foreign minister, told the FT his country had “used its national scope of action to the maximum extent possible” and yet still saw people “migrate to our labour market, but soon thereafter they become jobless and stay in our very attractive social system”. [...]

Denmark has long sought to tighten access to out-of-work benefits for migrants, as well as end child benefit payments for migrants whose children are overseas, another item on Britain’s wishlist. Copenhagen has established a three-month waiting time for out-of-work benefits and would consider extending that period if the British package expanded the options under EU law. [...]

© Financial Times