Cuts to benefits imposed by Austria on immigrants whose children live in their country of origin contravene European law, the EU Court of Justice ruled on Thursday. This decision is the latest condemning a series of measures decided by a previous government (2017-1019) including the far right which aimed to restrict access to social assistance for foreigners.
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“This adaptation mechanism constitutes indirect discrimination based on nationality which is, in any case, not justified.“, according to the opinion of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The case judged relates to reforms implemented in 2019 linking family allowances to the place where the children concerned live. These reforms caused a reduction in benefits for tens of thousands of Eastern Europeans working in Austria, particularly in the health sector, and whose children had remained in their country of origin.
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“Save 114 million euros per year»
Integration and Family Minister Susanne Raab explained earlier this year that Austria had already made provision for the necessary sums in the event of the condemnation of these measures and the need to reimburse the sums withheld. In 2020, the European Commission, supported by six Eastern European member countries, seized the CJEU. Former Austrian Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz had said he hoped aid cuts would save €114 million a year, but in 2019 the savings amounted to €62 million.
Among the reductions in aid to migrants introduced by the coalition government of Mr. Kurz also included a reduction for immigrants who did not master enough German, but this last measure had been rejected by the Austrian courts. The first government of Sebastian Kurz was driven out by a corruption scandal involving the far right in May 2019. His ÖVP (centre-right) party is still in power in Austria. The Greens, members of the current coalition, were opposed at the time to the reductions in social assistance.
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