Vanishing safety nets, the citizenship illusion, and the worker that isn’t: a case study of EU migrant atypical workers’ rights in the UK

EU Citizenship has been under a critical microscope for nearly thirty years – and has been found wanting; wanting in compassion, wanting in solidarity and wanting in true social rights. While scholars may be divided on whether that is a problem – because it leaves so many vulnerable people out, or else a virtue , because it prevents EU competence from creeping too far into public purses, a degree of consensus has emerged around the characterising of EU Citizenship as a market citizenship, rewarding economic activity with equal treatment rights. But what if this conception of EU Citizenship is a little too generous? What if work is not the golden ticket to EU rights after all?

This thesis examines the limits of EU Citizenship and free movement through the experience of EU national atypical workers. The potential for exclusion within the EU concept of economic activity is scrutinised against the backdrop of the changing labour market. Where wages do not guarantee the minimum means of subsistence, and where precarity in work creates a higher risk of reliance upon welfare systems, exclusion from those national welfare systems could present a significant barrier to free movement.

Case studies from EU nationals in atypical work and applying for welfare benefits in the UK reveal the shortfalls in the EU definition of work and how it can allow Member States to exclude many atypical workers. This has a disproportionate impact on already disadvantaged demographics such as disabled workers, carers and lone parents.

Ultimately, this thesis argues that the exclusion of atypical workers entrenches inequality and ignores economic contribution to a host Member State. It therefore falls short of the promise of even a market citizenship. Atypical workers’ experiences might more closely echo the model of an individual membership, subject to exclusionary subscription and etiquette requirements.