The concept of European Citizenship, the principle of freedom of movement and the allocation of social rights for EU migrant citizens are highly contested in Europe. Based on a thematic content analysis of print media in Britain, Germany and Sweden, this paper reveals significant differences in the dominant social construction of European Citizenship and associated social rights.  While there are similarities between how European social rights are constructed in Germany and Sweden, British newspaper reporting fundamentally challenges the concept of EU Citizenship and associated social rights. The paper considers socio-economic, attitudinal and institutional explanations for the variation in the construction of European social citizenship. It argues that the British case may be explained by a unique combination of EU-scepticism, relatively high levels of concern with immigration and negative attitudes towards welfare (and welfare recipients), a combination not found in either Germany or Sweden.