Labour Mobility Impact on Sending Countries. Romanian EU Workers Case Study

Abstract

Free movement of workers is one of the four freedoms of EU law and and labour force relocation through temporary migration is a form of efficient distribution of resources on the EU labour market. Although it is estimated that the net effects labour mobility leads to win-win for both countries involved, the higher demand for qualified workforce and extending the average duration of temporary mobility increases win-win imbalance to the detriment of the country of origin. In sending countries, labour migration may lead to mitigation of the labour market by reducing unemployment and wage growth, but may also emphasize imbalances directly, or through spillover effects. As EU Romanians mobile workers are over 2.25 million (2011, WB) and the trend of growth continues, though more moderate in the crisis, the effects on the Romanian economy grow and “advantages of mobility” are significantly lower. In this paper we have estimated the main effects of the free movement of Romanian workers in the EU and identified appropriate policy measures to manage outflows. We used labour force survey data and estimates of BM and determined the impact on socio -economic variables such as GDP, the level and structure of employment, on state budget incomes, investment potential.