Benefits Culture




I find it remarkable that the welfare system in the UK allows people to claim child benefit for children who don't even live them, but who reside in another European  country - it just doesn't make sense.


But that's the kind of system that's grown up in recent years as this report from The Times explains and it's costing the public purse around £30 million a year. 

No wonder the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is warming to the demands of the UK and David Cameron that the present rules must be reformed.   

Merkel help for Cameron in battle over benefits



Rules around the payment of child benefit abroad are enshrined in EU treaties Marc Tirl/EPA



By David Charter and Michael Savage - The Times

David Cameron was given ammunition for his fight to cut British funding for migrants’ families living abroad after Angela Merkel’s party backed an overhaul of the rules.

The prime minister put the issue of child benefits for EU migrants at the centre of his plan to loosen the country’s relationship with Brussels. Migrants claiming benefit for children living overseas costs Britain about £30 million each year.

In a sign that the success of Eurosceptic parties in May’s EU election is having an effect across the Continent, Mrs Merkel’s party endorsed proposals yesterday that would see Germany cut its handouts dramatically.

German conservatives are aghast that Romanian seasonal workers can claim at the national rate of £146 a month even if their children remain at home. The equivalent rate paid by the Romanian state is £7 a month.

MPs from Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) demanded that child benefit levels should be set according to the location of the child, rather than their parent.

Rules around the payment of child benefit abroad are enshrined in EU treaties, meaning that all member states would have to agree to alter them. Mr Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband have backed the idea of scrapping rules that allow EU migrants to claim for children who still live in their home country.

Downing Street sources said yesterday that the development proved there was “growing support” across Europe for reform. It was a vote of support for Britain’s battle against benefits tourism, they added.

The sources said that Mr Cameron could win support for serious changes, despite Britain’s failure to block the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as the next European Commission president.

Mr Cameron is bidding to win concessions before an EU referendum he has pledged for 2017. The strategy is designed to win back former Tory voters who supported Ukip in May’s election.

The German chancellor is considering proposals that would limit the rights of EU migrants to stay in Germany should they fail to find a job. Other plans contained in an interim report handed to her would tighten access to benefits.

“The CDU’s intervention underlines the growing support in Europe for action to tackle the abuse of free movement by those who move to claim, not to work,” a Downing Street source said.

However, No 10’s claims came as Nigel Farage used his opening address to the new session of the European parliament to warn that Britain was doomed to fail in any EU renegotiation.

“I must say, as the final vote approached, it began to feel a bit like the Eurovision song contest where it doesn’t really matter how good the British entry is, such is the dislike of our country around Europe that we’re always going to lose,” he said.

Mrs Merkel commissioned a report on benefits for EU migrants amid concern in Germany over an influx of Bulgarians and Romanians after they were allowed full access to the EU jobs market at the start of the year. Her party and their Bavarian conservative allies are trying to influence the final outcome of the report.

“Incentives for EU nationals to apply for child benefit in Germany must urgently be minimised,” Andrea Lindholz, the Bavarian spokeswoman on migration, said in a statement issued on behalf of the MPs from both conservative parties.

“We think it right to customise the amount of child benefit to the permanent residence of the child. So a child in Romania for example, has a right to ¤9 a month child support,” she added.

“But if one parent lives in Germany, the child gets €184 [£146] child benefit, even though the average net salary in Romania is only around ¤380. It is not comprehensible.”

A spokesman for the European Commission said: “The basic treaty rules on free movement of workers specify that there cannot be any form of discrimination between workers from another member state compared to workers from the home state.”

Child benefit Q&A

How much is child benefit?

Parents receive about £88 a month for their first child and £58 for every additional child.

Who can claim it?

EU citizens are allowed to claim child benefit for children living in the UK and in their home country. Since the beginning of this month, EU migrants need to prove that they have been in Britain for three months before claiming.

How much does benefit for children living overseas cost?

Figures released in May suggest that £30 million a year is paid out in child benefit for children living abroad. Poland is the most common destination.

Can the rules be changed?

EU treaties would have to be altered to change the rules on child benefit for children living abroad. David Cameron wants that to be done as part of renegotiation of Britain’s EU membership.

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