Migration Flows form New Member States and the Prospect of Britain’s Withdrawal from the European Union

Abstract

Ever since the European Union expanded to admit first eights Central and Eastern European countries in 2004, and then two more in 2007, internal migration has become a major social and political matter especially in Britain, which is one of the main destinations for thousands of migrants. This article builds on the body of data provided by British national institutions to examine the kingdom’s economic interests in revising its own deal in European migration policy. It presents the contemporary concerns with migrants’ flows from new member states in the wider perspective of Britain’s complex relationship with Europe and its own contested integration with the Union. The paper’s main objective though is to argue whether questioning the existing integration principles, including the principle of free movement, is justified or whether it has just become a convenient matter in the discussion on Britain’s likely withdrawal from the organization in 2017.