ABSTRACT
In May 2004, eight Central and Eastern European countries (A8) joined the European Union together with Cyprus and Malta, followed by Romania and Bulgaria in January 2007 and by Croatia in July 2013. While cheered by many, these enlargements also brought about numerous concerns, many of which were rooted in the income and wealth differentials between the acceding countries and the EU15. This contribution examines the concern that the post-enlargement escalation of intra-EU migration may adversely affect the legitimacy of the national welfare state. It studies the compatibility of unrestricted intra-EU labor migration and the right that intra-EU migrants have to access the receiving country’s welfare state on equal terms with the natives.
