Novi sad - 20 April 2007 Workers’ Mobility Within EU 27 ECAS - European Citizen Action Service...

Novi sad - 20 April 2007

Workers’ Mobility Within EU 27

ECAS - European Citizen Action Service

Claire Damilano- Legal officer


Free Movement rigths

Principle: Free movement rights within EU are fundamental European rights;

Exception: since 1st May 2004 existing Member States were given the option to apply restrictions limiting the possibilities of gaining access to their labour market;


Transitional Measures - “2+3+2-year arrangement”;

In 2004 UK, Sweden and Ireland decided to open their labor markets for EU8 citizens;

From May 2006 policies relating to the free movement of workers of the EU-15 states could be classified into three categories:

Keeping the restrictions in place for at least three more years (i.e. until 2009): Austria, Germany;

Lifting the restrictions gradually, within the next three years (i.e. until 2009): Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands;

Keeping labor markets open/removing restrictions: Finland, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Italy (July), United Kingdom;

All countries except Finland have opted for transition periods for workers from Bulgaria and Romania.


The dynamic of post-enlargement migratory flows Economic migration remains low;

EU -10 nationals make up only 0.2 % of the total EU-15 population;


But some countries have seen a more important influx of workers from the new Member States.

Nevertheless this is not a phenomenon that only affects those countries, which apply fully community rules on free movement of workers .


Some figures Germany, hosted 490,000 migrant EU-10

nationals United Kingdom 447.000 Ireland 74.000 Recent survey from Poland suggests that about

1 million people are working abroad, of which about one-third were already doing so before accession


Mobility inside the enlarged EU is mainly a regional mobility:

- Short distance mobility- Commuting mobility or Cross bordered - For Example, 21000 Slovakians work in Hungary

and 75 000 Hungarians work in Slovakia No direct link can be drawn between the migratory

flows and the application of the Transitional Arrangements .

Traditional destinations (linked to history, culture, language…) continue to impact on migrants’ choices.


Migrants’ ProfileMigrants’ Profile EU-15 “Mobile“: young (but rising share of

mobile above 34), single without kids, highly educated and working in skilled and high-skilled occupations

EU-10 “Mobile“: younger than EU-15 mobile, without kids (but more likely to be married), medium education, but many work in low-skill jobs

Romanians and Bulgarians resident in EU-15: roughly similar age profile as EU-10 mobile, medium education, but lower overall skill level than EU-10 mobile, even more likely to be in low-skill jobs


Example of Polish Migrants

Migrants from Poland are relatively young and well educated

Polish migrants tend to be over-qualified for the jobs they perform abroad

Many seasonal workers, but increasing demand for higher skilled labor (e.g. doctors and engineers)

Polish migrants by age brackets, 1994-2004 (%)

0102030405060708090

100

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

<15 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-64 >65

Share of migrants with tertiary education in most important receiving countries, 1994-2004 (%)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

Germany Italy USA UK


Impact on receiving economiesImpact on receiving economies

The fears of EU15 citizens concerning free movement of workers did not materialize: No evidence of “welfare tourism” No increase in the unemployment rate Little evidence of any impact on wages Foreign workers mostly filled vacancies rather than replaced domestic workers and

helped to sustain high growth with low inflation

Unemployment rate, LFS

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1Q

02

2Q

02

3Q

02

4Q

02

1Q

03

2Q

03

3Q

03

4Q

03

1Q

04

2Q

04

3Q

04

4Q

04

1Q

05

2Q

05

3Q

05

4Q

05

IE UKSE

Growth in average earnings by sector in the U.K.*

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Dec-0

0

Apr-

01

Aug-0

1

Dec-0

1

Apr-

02

Aug-0

2

Dec-0

2

Apr-

03

Aug-0

3

Dec-0

3

Apr-

04

Aug-0

4

Dec-0

4

Apr-

05

Aug-0

5

Dec-0

5

Apr-

06

A D1 D2 D3

D4 D5 D6 FG2 H I

*12M moving average.


Impact on sending economiesImpact on sending economies

Outflow of workers may lead to labor Outflow of workers may lead to labor shortages, particularly in the Baltic Statesshortages, particularly in the Baltic States

Bottlenecks also becoming severe in certain Bottlenecks also becoming severe in certain sectors in Poland (e.g. construction)sectors in Poland (e.g. construction)

Outflow of labor from the EU8, May 2004-Dec 2005 (% of working age population of the sending country)

0

1

2

3

4

CZ EE HU LV LT PL SK SI

UK Ireland Sw eden

Number of job vacancies in Lithuania

0

2500

5000

7500

10000

12500

15000

1Q

04

2Q

04

3Q

04

4Q 0

4

1Q

05

2Q

05

3Q 0

5

4Q 0

5

1Q

06


Impact on sending economiesImpact on sending economies

Outflow of workers has resulted in accelerating wage growth in the healthcare, retail sales, construction and agriculture

Brain drain is a concern for some countries - but how permanent?

Growth of average gross monthly wage in selected sectors Lithuania Poland

0

5

10

15

20

25

1Q

03

2Q

03

3Q

03

4Q

03

1Q

04

2Q

04

3Q

04

4Q

04

1Q

05

2Q

05

3Q

05

4Q

05

1Q

06

TotalAgricultureConstructionRetail tradeHealth sector

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

1Q

03

2Q

03

3Q

03

4Q

03

1Q

04

2Q

04

3Q

04

4Q

04

1Q

05

2Q

05

3Q

05

4Q

05

1Q

06

TotalAgricultureConstructionRetail tradeHealth sector

Note: 4Q average.


+32 (0) 2512 5968

e-mail: [email protected]

Website: http://www.ecas.org

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