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‘Damn It, I Am a Miserable Eastern European in the Eyes of the Administrator’: EU Migrants’ Experiences with (Transnational) Social Security

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  • Elisabeth Scheibelhofer

    (Department of Sociology, University of Vienna, Austria)

  • Clara Holzinger

    (Department of Sociology, University of Vienna, Austria)

Abstract

The European Union has given itself unique worldwide regulations so that EU citizens can port their social rights transnationally in case of migration. Yet this political and legal statement becomes flawed once a sociological perspective is adopted to look into the actual experiences of migrants. TRANSWEL (2015–2018), an ongoing international research project—applying a mixed-method approach to compare four country-pairs (Bulgaria-Germany, Estonia-Sweden, Hungary-Austria, Poland-UK)—has shown that mobile EU citizens are confronted with exclusion and discrimination and that their belonging is put into question. Based on qualitative interviews with migrants, we argue that welfare institutions in the ‘old’ EU member states (partially) exclude and potentially discriminate against mobile EU citizens. Exclusion and discrimination are mainly based on two types of experiences: First, the difficulty to navigate through a complex system of (transnational) regulations and administrative structures, and second, the burden to prove that one falls into the competency of the member state in question. The article points out that the EU—commonly referred to as the global best-practice example in terms of the portability of social rights—reveals its flaws and limitations once the actual experiences of migrants are scrutinized in this multilevel system of governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Elisabeth Scheibelhofer & Clara Holzinger, 2018. "‘Damn It, I Am a Miserable Eastern European in the Eyes of the Administrator’: EU Migrants’ Experiences with (Transnational) Social Security," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(3), pages 201-209.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v:6:y:2018:i:3:p:201-209
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Avato, Johanna & Koettl, Johannes & Sabates-Wheeler, Rachel, 2010. "Social Security Regimes, Global Estimates, and Good Practices: The Status of Social Protection for International Migrants," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 455-466, April.
    2. Thomas Faist, 2017. "Transnational social protection in Europe: a social inequality perspective," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 20-32, January.
    3. Erica Dobbs & Peggy Levitt, 2017. "The missing link? The role of sub-national governance in transnational social protections," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 47-63, January.
    4. Peggy Levitt & Jocelyn Viterna & Armin Mueller & Charlotte Lloyd, 2017. "Transnational social protection: setting the agenda," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 2-19, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nora Ratzmann & Anita Heindlmaier, 2022. "Welfare Mediators as Game Changers? Deconstructing Power Asymmetries Between EU Migrants and Welfare Administrators," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(1), pages 205-216.
    2. Elisabeth Scheibelhofer, 2022. "Migrants’ Experiences With Limited Access to Social Protection in a Framework of EU Post‐National Policies," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(1), pages 164-173.

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