Implications of EU Enlargement for India-EU Labour Mobility

Abstract

1 May, 2004 marked the fifth and the largest European Union enlargement, with accessions for 10 countries, eight of which were Eastern European. Following this, another round of enlargement took place in 2007, which gave Bulgaria and Romania EU member status. –The introduction of these new States to the EU opened up a whole new debate about labour migration and policies. The older EU countries (EU-15) consider these New Member States (NMS) as a cheap resource pool, conveniently at hand. The arrival of these new members has, meanwhile, created skepticism among Indian migrants, one of the largest Asian migrant groups in the EU, who have experienced competition and displacement as a result of these newer migrants. This paper tries to address whether the eastern enlargement of the EU will threaten Indian migrants to the EU or whether it will provide new opportunities for Indian migrants both in the older EU countries as well as in the NMS. The paper examines the changes in the trend and the pattern of migration from India and from the NMS pre- and post-enlargement. It observes these changes at a sectoral level and also the changes in the profile of the migrants and tries to understand whether these newly-added members stand as a threat to Indian migrants in the EU. The data suggests that migrants from the NMS are gradually increasing in number in the traditional EU destinations, thus posing competition to the Indian migrants. But, a deeper analysis shows that there are sectors within the older EU countries which can be put to use by Indian migrants. Moreover, with changes in the labour market conditions in the NMS, these countries too are gradually becoming attractive to Indian migrants. There is then a need for Government policy initiatives to help Indian migrants explore these sectors.