Vulnerable EU Migrants' access to Welfare - A source of Conflict? A Comparative Study of Party-Political Approaches in Gothenburg and Stockholm

Abstract: Vulnerable EU migrants' access to welfare has become a controversial issue in Sweden since two rounds of EU Eastern enlargement. The political debate has comprised both inclusive and welfare protective preferences, however, previous research provides contradictory views on whether approaches to intra-EU migration separate parties according to the traditional left-right divide or cuts across the political spectrum. Simultaneously, patterns of local political conflict are yet under-explored despite the fact that a considerable amount of welfare state activities are dealt with on a local level. Drawing on theories of welfare chauvinism and deservingness together with explanatory factors for party behaviour, this thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of political conflict surrounding vulnerable EU migrants' welfare from a local perspective. Parties' preferences are compared with each other in the two largest municipalities in Sweden, i.e. Gothenburg and Stockholm, to detect conflict patterns between the left-wing and the right-wing. Ideological and strategic perspectives are taken into consideration as well as the broader context of political conflict surrounding vulnerable migrant groups by comparing vulnerable EU migrants with undocumented migrants. The qualitative text analysis of City Council documents and party programmes reveals that right-wing parties are more likely to express restrictive preferences. However, there is no strict left-right divide in the political conflict surrounding vulnerable EU migrants' access to welfare. Both inclusive and welfare chauvinistic opinions are found on both the left-wing and the right-wing. The thesis suggests that strategic behaviour provides a plausible explanation for why the issue cuts across the two blocs as parties change sides in the pursuit to gain beneficial positions. The findings also indicate that vulnerable EU migrants, unlike undocumented migrants, are politicised as a problem to the Swedish society.