Giulia Barbone, LLB King’s College London
The judgments in Dano[1] and Alimanovic[2] have become landmarks for the contemporary understanding of Union citizenship and, thus, they must be fully understood. It is also important to note from the outset that this is not a political question as to whether or not economically inactive migrants should be entitled to social benefits. Indeed, those people who applaud the judgments purely on the basis of their political preference are closing their eyes to a much more troubling question: the CJEU has dramatically changed the legal meaning of Union citizenship without a legally sound justification. This is why the problem is not about being or not being on Ms Dano’s side. These judgments are about today’s legal content of Union citizenship and, for this purpose, political preferences should be kept aside.
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