EU lawyer backs Germany on migrant benefits refusal Published duration 4 June 2015

image copyright EPA image caption The EU advocate-general said the rule was justified in the interests of "maintaining financial equilibrium"

Unemployed EU migrants are not automatically entitled to social benefits in another EU country during their first three months there, a top EU legal adviser has said.

However, the EU advocate general said other benefits would be justified if an EU migrant was genuinely seeking work during that period and could prove it.

Germany took the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which usually follows the advocate general's advice.

The case involved a Spanish family.

A Spanish man, Joel Pena Cuevas, and his son, arrived in Germany in June 2012, and were supported by a working Spanish woman, called Ms Garcia-Nieto, with whom they were living.

Mr Pena Cuevas was refused basic German benefits for August and September 2012, as they had spent less than three months in Germany.

Such benefits are a hot topic in the EU, coming as UK Prime Minister David Cameron is seeking to renegotiate the UK's EU membership terms, including a tightening of the benefit rules.

Benefit tourism 'myth'

The latest legal opinion from the EU advocate general, Melchior Wathelet, confirmed a similar ruling by the ECJ in November 2014, known as the Dano case.

The benefits covered by the Garcia-Nieto case "must be regarded as social assistance benefits", not linked to the labour market, Thursday's legal opinion said.

Non-payment of social assistance in the first three months is justified on the grounds of "maintaining the financial equilibrium of the social security system", the legal opinion stated.

The opinion recognised the right of EU states to refuse benefits that risked "relocation en masse, liable to create an unreasonable burden on national social security systems".

Commenting on the opinion, British Lib Dem MEP Catherine Bearder said "this is yet another nail in the coffin of the EU benefit tourism myth".

"It shows the UK government can reform unemployment benefits for EU migrants without having to change a single EU law."

image copyright Getty Images image caption Learning German is seen as vital for early integration into German society

Dutch test

ECJ judges in Luxembourg are now considering the case and no date has been set yet for a final judgment.

In a separate case , the court said a Dutch test for long-term residents from non-EU countries was justified under EU law.

The Netherlands requires such residents to pass a "civic integration exam", testing knowledge of the Dutch language and society. They face a maximum fine of €1,000 (£734; $1,134) if they fail to pass the test by a certain deadline.

The applicant has to pay a €230 fee each time he or she sits the Dutch test.