Abstract
One of the defining features of contemporary Europe is the freedom of movement of persons. Despite its advantages, this ‘freedom of movement’ is also contested, since it has been shown to cause discrimination, exploitation and pave the way for a ‘race to the bottom’. How can we understand the social-economic consequences of free movement in Europe? To answer this question, we developed a typology along the dimensions value of work and degree of power which delivers four ideal types of labour relationships: exploitative, deprived, greedy and esteemed. This has been applied to Central and Eastern European (CEE) workers in Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden.Our study shows dual labour market strategies of both capital and labour agents, using on the one hand strategies of cost minimisation, and on the other hand compliance strategies and dual frames of reference, both of which contribute to a low degree of freedom and a low value of work. It addresses the responsibility and significance of both capital and labour contributing to exploitative and greedy relationships throughout all three cases. The results contribute to a more balanced understanding of the responsibilities towards the ‘shadow sides’ of free movement in the EU, as it shows that not all free movement of persons is totally free. Moreover, instead of bold political statements, it demonstrates the relevance of a more differentiated perspective on the downsides and benefits of European free movement.
Highlights
Since CEE migrants have become one of the most significant categories of mobile EU citizens to arrive in the ‘old’ European member states, we primarily focus on ‘CEE’ (Central and Eastern European) mobile workers or ‘migrants’ in our analysis
EU mobility in The Netherlands, Sweden and Austria The Austrian, Dutch and Swedish cases were selected as revelatory case studies (Yin, 1996) as these countries experienced a relatively significant increase in mobile workers through the EU-enlargements of 2004 and 2007
All three countries had different transitory regimes in opening their labour markets for European workers: Sweden was among the first European member-states opening their labour market for A8 countries in 2004, the Netherlands followed in 2007, while Austria extended the transitional arrangements until 2011
Summary
EU mobility in The Netherlands, Sweden and Austria The Austrian, Dutch and Swedish cases were selected as revelatory case studies (Yin, 1996) as these countries experienced a relatively significant increase in mobile workers through the EU-enlargements of 2004 and 2007 (see Fig. 2). (red.), 2011; Gijsberts & Lubbers, 2013).9 Engbersen et al (2011, 2013) indicate that the majority of their respondents (62%) were either unskilled manual or agricultural workers
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