Brussels, 31/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - A contrasting image of migrant integration, covering both Europeans and those from third countries, on the 28 employment markets of the EU, was presented by the statistical office of the EU, Eurostat, on Wednesday 30 July, in a first study of this kind, launching a series of publications on the issue of migrant integration.
The results contain many contrasts, as they differ greatly depending on the provenance of the migrant and the employment market under analysis. Globally, twice as many citizens aged between 20 and 64 years from countries outside Europe were out of work in 2013 as citizens of member states of the EU. On average, the unemployment rates for these two groups stood at 21.3% and 10% respectively. However, this difference levels out on the long-term unemployed (more than 12 months).
In order to compare the situations in the member states, Eurostat looked first and foremost at employment rates. In the EU as a whole, 56.1% of nationals of non-EU countries are in work, compared to 68.9% of EU nationals. The former group is much more likely to be working under temporary contracts. From one member state to another, the differences may be considerable, as shown by the cases of Sweden and Belgium, where the difference in employment rates was around 30% lower for citizens of non-EU countries. The lowest differences can be seen in Malta, Hungary, Italy and Lithuania and, in 2013, it moved in favour of migrants in the Czech Republic and Cyprus.
As Eurostat stresses, the situation of European citizens migrating within the EU was not just different, but virtually the diametric opposite of the situation for third-country migrants. The employment rate of European migrants was 3% higher than that of nationals (70.9% compared to 68.9%), even in the United Kingdom, where Prime Minister David Cameron has just gone back on the attack against the “abuses” by European immigrants of social security benefits (see EUROPE 11131). Yet, this is the very country in which the employment rate of citizens from other member states is the highest in the whole of the EU, 79.1%, whilst 75.4% of the active British work force have a job. (JK)