Free movement and the emergence of European social citizenship

Can we observe the emergence of an independent European social citizenship, or does (still) the economic logic of EU integration prevail as well as the national anchorage of the concept? This article offers a well-founded empirical investigation into this topical issue. It characterizes personal free movement as central to EU citizenship and analyzes the complete jurisdiction of the EU on Freedom of Movement of social assistance, carving out firstly to what extent social citizenship elements are dissolved from their national basis and redeployed at EU-level, and secondly whether social citizenship elements are detached of the economic basis rooted in the founding treaties of EU integration. It argues that, in the individual dimension of social citizenship partial denationalizing effects are observable that do not give way, however, to a clear post-national construction of a true social citizenship and which come at the cost of the collective dimension of social citizenship.