Labour Mobility in Europe as a Result of Changes in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

Abstract. International migration of labour has become a burning issue and is on the lips of politicians, social scientists, employers and workers. It has has become a global issue, with national borders becoming less important due to process of economic integration. The issue is very complicated since many factors are involved: unemployment, the stand of trade unions and national movements often opposing more liberal immigration rules, non-adherence of countries to international norms, in particular ILO labour standards. However, there are also gains for both labour-exporting and labour-importing countries. The article tries to trace the history of international norms concerning international migration of labour, as well as to touch upon hard facts accompanying such migration. It is difficult to collect these in a systematic manner, given the dearth of information on the subject, due to its sensitivity. However, the paper provides a variety of contro-versial information which is from the press rather than from official data, and therefore difficult to verify. It is a subject on which considerable prejudice clouds rational debate.