Angela Merkel to ban EU migrants claiming unemployment benefits in Germany – months after Britain was forced to beg EU for the same right
German cabinet prepares to vote on new law that could see new arrivals barred from claiming cash for five years
ANGELA Merkel is moving to ban EU migrants from claiming unemployment benefits for five years amid growing tension over her government’s open door immigration policy.
The German chancellor’s cabinet is preparing to vote on plans for a new law that would restrict migrants’ rights to claim cash from the state.
The proposal is remarkably similar to the one David Cameron demanded ahead of the Brexit vote earlier this year.
After intense negotiations, the UK was eventually offered an “emergency brake” on migration which created a seven year window in which new EU arrivals could be denied benefits.
The idea was strongly opposed by many European leaders who feared it would contradict the EU’s free movement rules.
As a result, the restrictions were only permitted to be brought into force in extreme circumstances.
But it seems mounting discontent with Merkel’s open door immigration policy has forced Germany to look into implementing a similar rule.
The planned law would stop new EU arrivals from claiming money if they do not have a job or have not acquired rights to the payments in a previous job.
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Germany is allowed to do this because the system in the country is partly based on claimants having made earlier contributions through tax.
But in the UK, benefits don’t require a cash contribution – so EU law meant Britain needed a treaty change to pursue similar reforms.
The new legislation would make EU citizens who are not working in Germany ineligible for social welfare or unemployment benefits until they have lived there for five years.
Officials said the change was aimed at making sure people who moved to the country were actively looking for work and not just living off benefits.
Merkel’s party has been under pressure from the anti-immigration AfD, finishing behind them in recent state elections in the chancellor’s Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania constituency.
The plans to restrict migrant benefits look like a move to win back working class voters amid waning support.
The cabinet will review the bill next week before it is sent to the lower house of parliament.
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