Brussels, 26/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 26 March, the German government was expected to adopt a report recommending that social security payments to migrants be limited and, in particular, that jobseekers in Germany be asked to leave the country after three months, Reuters and Der Spiegel report. These recommendations were prepared by a government panel set in place earlier this year and made up of various ministries. This was in response to a request by the CSU, the sister party to the CDU, which had expressed concerns at abuses of social security and called for measures to limit “social tourism”.
Along with the Netherlands, Austria and the United Kingdom, Germany also initiated a similar debate at European level in 2013, calling on the Commission to look into suspected abuse of this kind.
The German government was expected on Wednesday 26 March to endorse measures to restrict family benefit payments to European residents registered as tax payers in Germany. Jobseekers would be allowed to stay in the country for just three months and unemployed people guilty of fraud would be automatically expelled, according to the draft reports. They would also be banned from re-entering Germany for a certain period of time.
At the European Commission, sources stated on Wednesday that they “took note of this presentation” and would await the finalisation of the work of this panel before taking position. Commissioner Viviane Reding also pointed out that the current European rules provide the option for jobseekers to be allowed to stay in a country for just three months and have no rights during that period. It was also stated that banning individuals from a country's territory following a case of fraud is possible only in very serious cases, for instance when domestic security is concerned. (SP)