Marthe Delodder

Area of expertise

Social security law - European law

Biography

Marthe Delodder is a PhD researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, affiliated with the Department of Public Law, Social Law. After completing her law degree at Ghent University and obtaining a Master’s degree in Social Law at VUB, she had the opportunity to further develop her interest and expertise in social law by starting a PhD in 2023. Her research focuses on developing a typology of socio-fiscal measures within the European Union and examining how such measures interact with EU free movement law. 

Research

Social security systems have traditionally been structured around social risks such as old age and unemployment. Today, however, Member States also provide other forms of support, such as tax benefits for childcare and energy subsidies for low-income individuals. These socio-fiscal measures are situated at the intersection of social law and tax law and therefore often remain underexplored in legal research and policymaking. The use of socio-fiscal measures in EU Member States is increasing. This trend is driven, among other factors, by changes in the labour market, which have led to a growing need for supplementary income support. The climate crisis also presents new challenges, particularly with regard to the affordability of energy and transport. To gain a better understanding of these socio-fiscal measures, Marthe's project adopts a comparative legal approach to examine their application in four areas: housing, energy, transport, and the costs of raising children. Its aim is to develop a legal typology of socio-fiscal measures and subsequently assess this typology in light of the principles of the free movement of persons and EU citizenship. The research addresses, among other things, the following questions: What is the EU legal framework governing mobile EU citizens’ access to socio-fiscal welfare, and how does the proposed typology fit within this framework? By answering these questions, Marthe aims to contribute to a better understanding of European protection.