Brussels, 30/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - Following publication of the very detailed polls carried out by ECAS (European Citizens' Service), the Dublin-based European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions explains in a press release that the fears of a wave of workers from central and East European countries arriving en masse in the rest of the EU after enlargement have been totally unfounded. In research on mobility in Europe analysing the results of a Eurobarometer poll in the second half of 2005, the Foundation notes that to date, only 4% of EU citizens on average had moved to another EU country, and less than 3% had moved outside the EU, which seems to contradict the poll findings that 62% of those polled said that geographical mobility was a good thing whether in terms of the labour market, the economy in general or the individual. Asked about future plans, only 3% of the Europeans polled said they might go and live in another EU Member State in the next five years, explains the press release, adding that this varied hugely from one Member State to another (access report at: http://www.eurfound.eu.int/publications/htmlfiles/ef0659.htm ).
Jorma Karppinen, Director of the Dublin-based Foundation, said that the geographical mobility of workers remained a major challenge for the EU, adding that the problems of a brain drain and youth drain could prove to be much more serious for the poorest areas of Eastern Europe than the challenges currently faced by the richest regions in the centre and north of Europe in their attempts to integrate immigrant workers. The report reveals that in the new EU Member States, the main reasons listed for leaving the country were to try and get better pay (59%) and better working conditions (57%), far ahead of making new discoveries. In the EU15 (old Member States), reasons for immigrating tend to be connected with the desire of experiencing a new environment (64%) or meeting new people (39%), with seeking a better climate being a major incentive for 25% to leave the country. (mg)