Favell, A. (2014) “The UK has been one of the main beneficiaries from free movement of labour in the EU“, LSE EUROPP, 01 Ιουλίου.
Free movement of labour across the EU has become a controversial issue in several European countries, with parties such as UKIP and the Front National calling for restrictions on EU immigration. Adrian Favell writes on the debate over the issue within the UK. He argues that while free movement has generally been portrayed as an ‘immigration’ problem, it should instead be viewed as a set of rights which allow a range of short-term and long-term movements within the EU. He also notes that the UK economy has been particularly well placed to benefit from free movement, with cities like London being among the most attractive destinations for highly skilled workers.
The recent electoral successes of the United Kingdom Independence Party have seriously distorted intelligent discussion in Britain about the pros and cons of European free movement rights – not only for migrants but for Britain. As UKIP boasts it will “take back control of the UK’s borders”, and Conservative and Labour party leaders scramble to affect anti-“immigration” poses, there has been a serious short term memory loss about just how good migration has been for Britain these past three decades.
As London moved into a global city position to rival New York, the 1990s and 2000s saw a massive transformative dynamism in Britain as a hub of international mobility of all kinds, with new European migrations making London the unquestioned symbolic capital of Europe on the regional and world stage. Such was its success that everyone forgot just how dismal and provincial London was in the 1970s and 80s; before the era of what anthropologist Steven Vertovec calls its new “super-diversity”, based on Britain’s open labour market driven growth during these years.
Σχετικές αναρτήσεις:
- Barslund et al. (2014) “Labour Mobility in the EU: Dynamics, Patterns and Policies“, INTERECONOMICS, Vol 49, No. 3· Μάιος/ Ιούνιος 2014.
- European Commission (2014) “Government wages and labour market outcomes“, European Economy. Occasional Papers, Απρίλιος 2014: Βρυξέλλες.
- Butcher, B. (2013) “Hollowing out and the future of the labour market – the myth“, VoxEU Organisation, 17 Δεκεμβρίου.