European National Policies Aimed at Stimulating Return Migration

Abstract

The so-called brain drain is a long-standing phenomenon: the best-known example is the migration of skilled professionals from the countries of the Global South to ones in the Global North. The changes in regimes in 1989–90, plus the liberalisation of borders created an entirely new situation with regard to migration in Central Europe and a new dimension of the migration processes has emerged. The enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004 and 2007 and the acceptance of new acts and agreements, such as the free movement of people, re-drew migration patterns within Europe significantly. As a result of systemic changes, and more recently EU accession, the economically active and mobile parts of these societies, in particular the young and well-educated, began to move in large numbers towards Western Europe, especially the economically more prosperous and competitive regions (i.e. core regions). The destinations of this labour movement also turned gradually towards those countries of the EU that were previously considered peripheral and were to some extent sources than destinations of migration (for example, Ireland and Spain). These countries were turned into destinations, mainly as a result of the labour flow arriving from the new member states (Kahanec and Zimmermann 2011).