EU Migrants Must Earn £149 a Week to Claim UK Benefits

European migrants coming to the UK will have to show they are earning at least £149 a week for three months before they can access a range of benefits.

The minimum earnings threshold, first announced last year by David Cameron, will come into force on 1st March 2014.

It is the latest in a series of measures to restrict access to benefits for migrants from other EU countries.  Welfare Minister, Esther McVey MP, said the measure would help “protect the integrity” of the benefits system.

Ministers argue that the longstanding principle that citizens of EU countries should be allowed to live and work in other member states does not amount to an automatic right to claim benefits abroad.  They say it has become too easy for migrants from the other 27 EU member states to access public services in the UK, such as the welfare state and the health service.

The Prime Minister announced the plan for an earnings threshold at the end of last year, as he came under pressure from Conservative MPs to act before the lifting of work restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians on 1 January.

At the moment, EU law defines a “worker” as someone whose employment is “genuine and effective”.  Ministers think this definition is too loose, and they will apply a threshold of £149 a week – the level at which national insurance starts being paid – above which people will be eligible to get jobseeker’s allowance, child tax credits, child benefits and a number of other benefits.

Any European migrant who declares an income below the threshold, which will rise to £153 a week in 2014-15, will face further assessment of whether they are in the UK to undertake “genuine” work.  If they do not pass this test, they will have to wait three months before becoming eligible for jobseeker’s allowance.

Esther McVey said that EU nationals were entitled to certain in-work benefits under existing laws but that the current arrangements were “vague” and needed to be clearly defined.  She said, “These are not measures about saving money.  This is about protecting the integrity of our benefits system and having clarity about the benefits system.”