What Impact does the Freedom of Movement have on Social Protection Systems in the European Union?

The freedom of movement is one of the pillars of European integration: one is impossible without the other. After article 50 is triggered by the British government, it will mainly be on this principle that future negotiations with the UK to define the terms of divorce will be based. The latter would like to be able to benefit from total access to the European Single Market without having to accept the free movement of citizens on its territory. And this is because the referendum campaign that led the country to its departure was focused on the fight to counter intra-community migration, in other words that of European citizens.

Europeans are very much attached to their systems of social protection. They match the historical, economic and social heritage of each country. Although work towards convergence has been started at European level, it remains nonetheless that articulation between the heterogeneous nature of the national systems and the mobility of their beneficiaries is complex.