The burden of intra-EU mobility on national welfare systems: between myth and reality. Some introductory remarks

The article sets the scene for the range of matters analysed in the Focal Issue, identifying drivers and patterns of the restrictive trend that affects the policy and legal framework of intra-EU mobility, as well as its consequences on the European integration process as a whole. The analysis casts a critical eye on the attempt by national governments and supranational institutions to restrict the access to social benefits by mobile EU citizens. The article maintains that this transformation is encroaching upon foundational elements of the European integration process and, while in the short run it can yield some electoral dividends, it is going to negatively affect its long-Term prospects.