Consequences of Intra-European Movement for CEE Migrants in European Urban Regions

Abstract

In Europe today, EU citizens are free to move within the entire EU and may take up jobs, enter universities, enjoy retirement or try their luck wherever they want to. As many scholars have pointed out (Favell 2008, 2009; Ciupijus 2011; Castro-Martin and Cortina 2015) this complete freedom of movement marks a turning point in European history, and the predominant direction of movement is currently from East to West. Post-accession migration from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) thus brings back old European migration patterns, in which CEE migrants are making use of this still quite new freedom of movement. So, being mobile as such is simple and easy without any legal constraints whatsoever, as nowadays even more sceptic EU 15 countries like Austria and Germany have abolished most of the transitional provisions regulating access to their labour markets. One might exaggerate and say that the official term “mobility” implies that internal EU migrants never really arrive anywhere, but are rather floating freely through the EU, which of course is a completely inaccurate picture. With the national level becoming less important in the present setting, having been “taken out of the equation”, CEE migrants are arriving at and settling within varying periods of time in cities and urban regions, which are still the most important destinations, though rural areas, e.g. in Southern Europe, are also becoming more attractive destinations (see Caglar 2014). Still, CEE migration to Western Europe is to a large extent an urban issue.