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

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