Free movement without access to rights? Confronting home­less­ness and exclusion in the EU

Freedom of Movement is one of the most accomplished achievements of the European Union (EU), governed through the EU Directive 2004/38, which grants European citizens and their family members the right to move freely and reside within the EU. While the Directive is an essential and exemplary part of the EU legislation, uncertainty and questions persist around certain concepts introduced by the legislation and its implementation at national level. In practice, this translates into established rights applying differently to certain groups of individuals, particularly those in destitute or vulnerable situations. 

In reality, not all European citizens enjoy freedom of movement equally. Some policymakers often translate freedom of movement to be specifically about economically active, financially able, or self-sufficient individuals, ignoring an increasingly visible reality of the EU: that of mobile EU citizens falling into destitution and often abandoned in precarious positions. Most of the time, destitute mobile EU citizens are seen as a burden on the welfare of predominantly western and northern European countries. Often, these countries perceive intra-EU migration as a social assistance magnet issue, rather than consider the human rights breaches that take place in this context.