LABOUR MIGRATION AND THE SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET: A SYNTHETIC AND PROSPECTIVE NOTE

Abstract

In the context of the completion, by 1993, of a single European market and of the resulting liberalisation of internal borders, labour migration in Europe is attracting increased attention from policy-makers and social actors in the twelve member states. The present paper is an attempt to analyse and forecast the following major issues relating to migration in Europe after 1992: (i) the evolution and structure of intra-European flows in the forthcoming single European market; (ii) the integration, after 1992, of established immigrant communities, including ethnic minorities and second generation groups; (iii) future immigration from non-EC member states, in relation, inter alia, to the recent coming into play of the Eastern European periphery. The article explains that, in addition to policy-related mutations inherent in the completion of the internal market, other factors (demographic changes and insufficient enrolment of national graduate students in key disciplines) and issues (emergence of atypical groups such as second generation and Eastern European migrants), are due to generate new patterns and modified interests in European labour migration after 1992.