Two-tier EU citizenship: Disposable Eastern European workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

We argue that the (mis)treatment of Eastern European migrant workers during the pandemic revealed the existence of a two-tier EU citizenship, despite the political discourse of equality within the EU. We show that this two-tier citizenship system was generated by the combined effect of differentiated rights and of prejudicious practices applied to EE citizens. In terms of differentiated rights, we refer specifically to the implementation of transitional arrangements for up to 7 years following the Eastern enlargements in 2004 and 2007, which restricted access to the labour markets and welfare systems of the incumbent member states, de facto undermining the right to free movement for this group of EU citizens. In terms of prejudicious practices, we refer to the instances of exploitation, abuses, de-skilling, exclusion from public services and use of social rights that EE migrant workers have been well documented to experience. We show that the two-tier citizenship system reflects the unequal power relations between Member States and the internal political, economic and social hierarchy present within the European Union.

EU MECI: A Network-Structured Indicator for a Union of Equality

“…At the same time, the traditionally high achievers of the strong core of the Union remain at the top of the rankings. The geographical segregation or the EU’s internal East-West divide is a well established finding in various areas of life in the EU (Ulceluse & Bender, 2022 ). In fact, a strand of this literature warns against the implicit hierarchical structure of the EU predating its formation (Ulceluse & Bender, 2022 ; Antonucci & Varriale, 2020 ), built on strong trade-offs benefiting the core countries at the expense of the periphery (Underdeveloped Europe, 1979 ).…”

“…The geographical segregation or the EU’s internal East-West divide is a well established finding in various areas of life in the EU (Ulceluse & Bender, 2022 ). In fact, a strand of this literature warns against the implicit hierarchical structure of the EU predating its formation (Ulceluse & Bender, 2022 ; Antonucci & Varriale, 2020 ), built on strong trade-offs benefiting the core countries at the expense of the periphery (Underdeveloped Europe, 1979 ). The verification of such geographical segregation through the EU MECI should raise a more boisterous alarm to those in charge of public policies in the Union.…”

Lockdown stories (un)told: Challenging official narratives through working class solidarity

“…Melanie struggles without any outdoor space, Soraya home schools four children with voracious appetites and Maggie cares for her children and her parents. The diary entries describing the pressures of caring for people at work and at home further contextualise how bodies were unequally protected from Covid-19 (Alamgir et al, 2021) and many workers were considered disposable (Ulceluse and Bender, 2022).…”