Retired EU migrants, healthcare rights and European social citizenship

Abstract

Drawing on a set of 210 qualitative interviews conducted insix European countries, this paper investigates the citizenship status andexperiences of retired EU migrants at both national and European levels. Thepaper focuses upon the experiences of two types of respondents: ‘RetiredMigrants’ (retired nationals of one EU country who moved on retirement andreside in another EU host state) and ‘Returnees’, that is, those migrants whohave chosen to return to their country of origin after a period of residenceabroad. In particular, this paper will attempt to explore three issues: (a) Theextent to which retired migrants have access to, and make use of, the publichealthcare systems of the countries in which they reside. (b) Retired migrants’perceptions and experiences of those systems. (c) Whether or not a lack of accessto and/or the quality of public healthcare is an important determinant of returnmigration decisions, i.e. moves back to the country of origin. By focusing onhealthcare the paper combines an analysis of the formal welfare rights availableto EU citizens who migrate on retirement (both in terms of their EU rights andtheir status in the receiving and exporting countries) with qualitative evidencethat documents the substantive reality of such rights