From Rules to Rights: How Information Condition EU Citizens’ Take-Up of Welfare Rights

Despite a growing literature on the implementation of European Union (EU) policies, we know remarkably little about whether EU citizens are actually willing to and capable of using the rights that EU legislation grants them. This paper addresses this gap by analysing how the quality of information provided by public authorities affects citizens’ willingness to use their cross-border healthcare rights. Drawing on insights from public administration and welfare state research, we focus on two key dimensions of information: complexity—the structure and language through which information is communicated—and predictability—the clarity and concreteness of the substantive and procedural guidance offered. We theorise that these dimensions shape citizens’ ability to understand, navigate, and ultimately act upon their entitlements, and that individual resources, such as bureaucratic self-efficacy, condition these effects. We present findings from a preregistered survey experiment conducted among EU citizens, testing the extent to which information quality influences EU citizens’ willingness to take up cross border welfare rights. By shifting attention to the citizen perspective, the paper contributes to emerging scholarship on the public encounter with EU policies and highlights how information design can produce variation and inequalities in the outcomes of EU legislation.