The concept of universal basic income, according to which citizens should receive payments regardless of their income level and labor status, is winning more and more supporters. The newfound interest in basic income is a natural consequence of the crisis of the European social model, which is forced to confront a wide range of social, financial, economic and technological challenges. In order to assess the positive and negative aspects of basic income, several European countries have launched pilot projects. Their results will help to find out opportunities (and limits) for moving to this scheme of welfare redistribution.