GETTY Angela Merkel has declared she will ban EU migrants from claiming benefits for five years

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Berlin is to restrict access to out of work benefits for EU migrants in Germany for up to five years, if a draft bill is passed next week. Yet to be agreed by the cabinet, if approved those moving to the European nation will not be allowed access to unemployment and welfare benefits, known as the Hartz IV. Instead EU migrants would be expected to work or have enough money to support themselves, and only be allowed access to the welfare system once they had ‘solidified’ their place in Germany. In January this year figures show 440,000 people from other EU nations were living in Germany claiming benefits.

GETTY British Prime Minister Theresa May

Mrs Merkel announced the initiative as her party’s support continued to fall in Germany, losing ground to far-right parties popular for their anti-immigration stance. Labour Minister Andrea Nahles, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Germany's junior coalition partner, stressed only a minority would be affected by the new law. The current figure in receipt of these benefits are low-paid workers, supplementing their income, rather than those who are unemployed.

GETTY Berlin is to restrict access to out of work benefits for EU migrants in Germany

Her shock revelation comes a day after she said allowing Britain to restrict benefits to migrants would lead to a ‘free-for-all’ in Europe. Just yesterday Mrs Merkel was giving a lecture on the importance of the fundamental principles of the EU, including the free movement of people. The politician said Britain cannot be handed access to the EU’s lucrative single market if it chooses to limit immigration. She said: "If we don’t say that full access to the single market is linked to full acceptance of freedom of movement, then a process will begin where everyone in Europe starts doing what they want, and that will be extremely complicated.”

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German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel also stressed access to the single market was inextricably linked to the free movement of people in the EU bloc. And French president Francois Hollande was also vocal in his critique of the UK in the wake of Brexit, saying Britain should be “made to pay” for voting to leave the superstate. It is thought the welfare plan is an attempt to claw back votes ahead of the 2017 election, where Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party is expected to receive a drubbing at the polls. The embattled chancellor faces a humiliating defeat when the polls open next year, after a string of regional elections spelled disaster for her party.

GETTY Francois Hollande was also vocal in his critique of the UK in the wake of Brexit

Mrs Merkel’s policies were rejected in her hometown, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party clinched major gains. The CDU was beaten into third place, with 19.2 per cent of the vote compared to the victorious AfD's 21 per cent. And the bad news continued for Mrs Merkel when the CDU faced another crushing defeat in Berlin just weeks later. The AfD made gains in the capital too, picking up 14 per cent of the vote, enough to gain a seat in the state parliament.