Resource conditions for legal residence in the EU: A comparative analysis of EU migration law and its implementation in selected Member States

Miriam C. Quené

Research output: ThesisDoctoral thesis 3 (Research UU / Graduation NOT UU)

Abstract

As the EU has expanded and moved towards greater integration, debates about the impact of free movement and immigration on host States’ national welfare systems have become increasingly topical. In order to respond to Member State fears of ‘benefit tourism’ by migrants with poor economic prospects, EU migration law has come to include economic conditions for legal residence, both for mobile EU citizens and for third-country nationals who want to settle in the EU in order to work, study or join their family members. Instead of bringing the envisaged clarity, however, resource conditions have proven to perpetuate discussions on Member State possibilities to bar unwanted migrants. This dissertation examines (i) the ways in which resource conditions regulate different types of migration, (ii) how these conditions are implemented on the national level and (iii) how they relate to the fundamental right to non-discrimination. After highlighting interpretative difficulties and legislative and jurisprudential inconsistencies at the EU level, a comparative study of the ways in which Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany transpose, apply and enforce the various conditions reveals a disconnect between the EU legal framework and the way it is implemented in practice. In fact, even though Member States try to make good on their obligations under EU law (at least in most cases), they are shown to use various strategies to implement or change the resource conditions in ways that reflect their national preferences. Despite the conditions’ purported goal to provide a neutral and meritocratic mechanism for migrant selection, the design and application of these conditions moreover produce disproportionate effects for members of certain identity groups to which current non-discrimination law fails to provide clear answers.
Original languageEnglish
QualificationDoctor of Laws
Awarding Institution
  • University of Antwerp
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Verschueren, Herwig, Supervisor, External person
  • Vanheule, Dirk, Co-supervisor, External person
Award date27 Sept 2023
Print ISBNs978-90-90-37619-6
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FWO

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