Government: EU citizens must earn the right to benefits

Denmark on another collision course with the EU over a social benefits issue

The Danish government is working on a proposal that would make it more difficult for EU citizens to receive social benefits in Denmark.

According to Kristian Jensen, the foreign minister, EU citizens should be forced to earn the right to benefits by working for a period of time.

“I think it’s only fair for there to be earning requirements in order to obtain social benefits,” Jensen told Jyllands-Posten newspaper.

“I think it will foster a better understanding in Denmark for labour being dynamic and something that moves around.”

READ MORE: Danish government announces reform of benefits: It should pay to work

In the pipeline
Jensen lamented an earlier EU decision that ruled the Danish earning principle for the child allowance benefit, ‘børnecheck’, was against EU legislation.

The European Commission ruled in 2013 that all EU citizens should be entitled to the quarterly child support benefit as soon as they are legally registered in the country.

The government has yet to reveal a specific proposal regarding social benefits for migrant and expat workers in Denmark, but aside from the child allowance, the unemployment benefits ‘kontanthjælp’ and ‘dagpenge’ are also part of the plans.

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