Today the European Commission released a memo on labour mobility within the EU. The document summarises some of the current trends and answers common questions such as ‘Do mobile workers constitute a burden on host countries’ social protection systems?’ and ‘Can EU financial instruments support municipalities faced with a sudden influx of mobile citizens or if migrants are poorer?’
According to the paper, in 2013, slightly over 7 million EU citizens worked and lived in an EU country other than their own. They represented 3.3% of total employment in the EU. Other interesting findings reveal that mobile EU workers are heading more than before towards Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Nordic countries, and less to Spain and Ireland – overall Germany and the UK are the top two destination countries. In terms of age, people moving within the EU remain mostly young, but the share of those aged 15-29 declined (from 48% to 41%). Furthermore mobile EU workers are increasingly highly educated (41% having tertiary education during 2009-13 vs. 27% during 2004-08).