EU proposes new rules:

The European Commission proposed new rules on Tuesday on what social benefits governments must pay to citizens from other EU states — a key for people concerned about immigration and “benefit tourism”.

The package of measures, delayed by nearly a year as Brussels hoped to avoid Britain voting to leave the EU, is designed to clarify rights of EU expatriate workers and states’ obligations on unemployment benefits and social security.

The new rules will confirm a series of EU court decisions that backed mainly rich northwestern states in rejecting “benefit tourism” by poor Europeans who did not look for, or find, work after arriving.

“To sum up in one word, it is about fairness,” said EU Commissioner for employment and social affair Marianne Thyssen.

Under the proposal, jobseekers will be able to take unemployment benefit with them to a different country for six months, rather than three.

Economically inactive people would, however, not be able to claim social security benefits abroad, setting out that freedom of movement of workers is not a full right to reside for everyone.

One element on which former prime minister David Cameron had secured a promise of change before the Brexit vote is absent. States will continue to have to pay full benefits to children of EU expatriates working in their countries, even if those children live in other countries with lower allowances and living costs.

Thyssen said the payment for such exported benefits was less than 1 percent of child benefit costs. (RTRS)