Migration,mobility and the free movement of persons: an issue for current and future EU members

Abstract

This article, in addition to providing information on and discussing lines of argumentation and probable developments, proposes an 'integrated' approach to the issue of migration. Public debate in some of the European Union (EU) member countries gives the impression of a deep East-West divide as far as migration movements are concerned. It is often feared that opening the EU towards the East will, by way of the expected migratory flows and low-wage competition, result in massive distortions on west European labour markets, accompanied by job losses and pressure on wages. Policy-makers and the public at large in applicant countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs) resent calls in some EU Member States for transitional periods for the free movement of persons, excluding the freedom of the new member's citizens to move in the enlarged Single Market. We hold that it is too short-sighted to look at the two sides merely as 'antagonists': First, a look at current data and projections about future developments should be conducive to dispel the diffuse fears in the current EU of being inundated by east European labour migrants once these countries accede. Secondly, flanking policy instruments, such as structural and regional policies, the fostering of social partnership in the CEECs and the introduction of active labour market strategies, all of which are still more or less in a stage of infancy, as well as close cooperation in Justice and Home Affairs will have to play their full role before and after accession, in order to mitigate possible negative effects in certain segments of the labour market. This paper also gives some insights into labour migration and the effects of the application of EU border control requirements in a number of accession countries, an aspect greatly overlooked in debates within the current EU

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Belke, A. ( 1999) Beschäftigungswirkungen institutioneller Arbeitsmarktunterschiede und währungspolitische Arrangements bei stufenweiser EU-Osterweiterung, Diskussionsbeiträge, Nr. 27, Bochum: Institut für Europäische Wirtschaft.

Biffl, G. ( 1997) 'Migration, Labour Market and Regional Integration: the Role of Education System', in: Migration, Free Trade and Regional Integration in Central and Eastern Europe, Vienna : Verlag Österreich.

DGB Bundesvorstand, Referat Migation Internationale Abteilung (1999) EU-Erweiterung: Arbeitnehmerfreizügigkeit, Dienstleistungsfreiheit, Grenzgängerbeschäftigung - Stellungnahme des Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbundes, AK Migration, Düsseldorf, 10.5.1999

DIW (2000): EU-Osterweiterung: Keine massive Zuwanderung zu erwarten, Wochenbericht 21/2000, Berlin.

European Commission / Eurostat (2000) Central European countries'employment and labour market review, Luxembourg.

European Commission (2000) Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Social Policy Agenda, Brussels, COM (2000) 379 final.

European Integration Consortium: DIW (consortium leader), CEPR, FIEF, IAS, IGIER (2000) The Impact of Eastern Enlargement on Employment and Labour Markets in the EU Member States, independent research carried out on behalf of the European Commission, Berlin and Milan .

Garson, J.P. , Redor, D. , and G. Lemaitre ( 1997) 'Regional Integration and the Outlook for Temporary Migration in Central and Eastern Europe', in: Migration, Free Trade and Regional Integration in Central and Eastern Europe, Vienna : Verlag Österreich.

Gosh, Bimal ( 1998) 'East-West Migration: Trends and Policy Perspectives', manuscript, Geneva.

10.

Grabbe, Heather ( 2000) 'The Sharp Edges of Europe: Security Implications of Extending EU Border Policies Eastwards', Occasional Papers 13 of the Institute for Security Studies of the Western European Union .

11.

Hönekopp, E. ( 1999) 'The Impact of Migration' - Background Report to The Impact of Eastern Enlargement on Employment and Wages in the EU Member States, European Integration Consortium.

12.

Hönekopp, E. ( 2000) 'Auswirkungen der EU-Osterweiterung auf die Arbeitsmärkte der Mitgliedsländer der Europäischen Union (Schwerpunkt Arbeitskräftefreizügigkeit' , Eine Studie für die Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Bonn , Nürnberg.

13.

Hönekopp, E. , Werner, H. ( 2000) 'Is the EU's Labour Market Threatened by a Wave of Immigration?' , Intereconomics.

14.

Langewiesche, R. ( 2000) 'EU enlargement and the free movement of labour' , in ETUC/ETUI Yearbook 1999, Brussels .

15.

Lubyova, M. ( 1999) EU-enlargement and potential migration from candidate countries and beyond, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Stockholm.

16.

Lubyova, M. ( 2000) 'Status of foreign residents and foreign workers in selected Central and Eastern European countries', OECD Seminar on Recent Developments in Migration and the Labour Market in Central and Eastern Europe in the Context of the EU Enlargement, Bratislava , 2-3 March 2000.

17.

OECD, SOPEMI Reports for CEEC, Austria and Germany, 1995, 1996.

18.

Oecd (1995) Trends in International Migration, SOPEMI Annual Report, Paris.

19.

Oecd (1997) Relations Between the Central and Eastern European Countries and the European Union in the Field of International Migration, Note by the Secretariat, prepared by L. Barros, Working Party on Migration, June 1997.

20.

Oecd (1998) Trends in International Migration, SOPEMI Annual Report, Paris.

21.

Quaisser, W. , Hartmann, M. , Hönekopp, E. , Brandmeier, M. ( 2000) Die Osterweiterung der Europäischen Union: Konsequenzen für Wohlstand und Beschäftigung in Europa, Bonn : FES.

22.

Walterskirchen, E. , Dietz, R. ( 1998) Auswirkungen der EU-Osterweiterung auf den Österreichischen Arbeitsmarkt, Studie des Österreichischen Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung im Auftrag der Bundesarbeitskammer, Wien.