ABSTRACT
This chapter offers insights into the tension between the sedentary and work-oriented logic of social protection of ‘ideal EU citizens’ at the policy level on the one hand, and the lived transnational experiences in a region with long-standing practices of border-crossing on the other. Our empirical research indicates that Hungarian citizens often face uncertainty regarding their rights, which is mainly caused by the combined effects of complexities of the legal and bureaucratic system and the high degree of discretion in decision-making at ‘street level’. Especially highly mobile migrants with transnational life-styles proved to be at risk of being labelled as frontier workers and consequently excluded from welfare benefits in Austria. Nonetheless, the empirical data also show how Hungarian mobile citizens overcome their disadvantaged positions forged by the multilevel regulations and national administrations. In particular, individuals who can demonstrate personal initiative in the application procedure and dispose of the adequate social, cultural, and/or economic capital have a good chance of accessing and/or porting their social rights.
