MIGRATION AS A FACTOR OF CHANGING THE ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Abstract

In the age of raising global migration flows and increased mobility of the labour force in the world, there is a need to understand the main determinants of this phenomenon and to direct the focus of migration research to the various challenges it brings. This is a very important theme, especially in Europe, because 2014 and 2015 were the years of the highest number of immigrants, since WWII. Migrants are economic migrants and refugees, but in unique term they are asylum seekers as they want to stay, live and work in EU countries. Their population structure is quite different from that of EU population: they are young and in optimum reproductive and working age. Is that going to change not only quantitative, but also qualitative characteristics of population living in EU countries which are facing population decline or stagnation, low fertility rate, ageing and lack of labor force? Can we expect the redistribution of EU population due to intensive migration flows in certain countries, or a change in religious structure of the continent? Those are the questions of great importance because the migration flows today are shaping the future of EU population.