The Concept of Social Citizenship of the European Union in the Light of the PHENOMENON of Social Tourism

The year 1993 marked the establishment of formal EU citizenship and, subsequently, special relations were forged between the earlier status of the individual, a subject of internal market freedoms, and the notion of political EU citizenship. The social and welfare rights of individuals were strengthened, thus enabling a deeper integration. The social rights in the EU’s legal system play a special role in the construction of EU citizenship as they add meaning to the notion of citizenship and go beyond the traditional, economic dimension of integration. What links the constructs of market citizenship and social citizenship is the strong emphasis on the individual’s right to their status, and to rights which can be exercised effectively. Recently, political and economic citizenships have merged. However, this process has been confronted with resistance from some member states, particularly the ones with wealthy social protection systems. This has been caused by the abuse of rights by migrants from other member states, i.e., through so-called social tourism.