Analysis: “Good News on Citizen’s Rights (if the Court accepts…)” by Elijah Granet

Social rights in EU law have always worked more neatly in theory than in practice.  A familiar trilogy of restrictive decisions on the rights of access to social benefits by intra-EU migrants (Dano, C-333/13; Alimanovic, C-67/14; and García-Nieto, C-299/14) has been subject to intense academic criticism, for ultimately limiting the package of rights accompanying EU citizenship. Happily for those of us hoping for an about-face by the Court of Justice, the Opinion of Advocate General (AG) Szpunar in S v Familienkasse Niedersachsen-Bremen der Bundesagentur für Arbeit (C-411/20) is a (provisional) victory for the principle of equal treatment.

The facts and law are quite simple:  S is a Bulgarian mother of three who wants to claim fami