Year: 2016
Type: book-review
Abstract: Migration is one of the major challenges currently facing the EU.Understandably most of the focus is on migration from war-torn countries in the Middle East and beyond, especially Syria.However, migration within the EU's twenty-eight member states is also a major challenge, and is currently one of the central issues in the 'Brexit' referendum debate in the UK.Migration has always been a major reality for Ireland, but only in recent decades has it come to involve both inward and outward migration.A recent OECD survey showed that 17.5 per cent of the Irish population over the age of fifteen who were born in Ireland live in other countries.This is the highest such percentage among the thirty-eight member countries of the OECD.Of these, 412,658 live in the UK and 74,662 live in other EU countries.Of the latter, the biggest numbers live in Spain (17,519), Germany (12,000), France (9,664), Poland (8,136), the Netherlands (5,054) and Belgium (4,030).Ireland's relative economic success has also led to significant inward migration.There are currently almost 600,000 nonnationals living in Ireland -one in eight of the total population -and of these over 384,000, or 64 per cent, are EU nationals, representing one in twelve of the total population.Free movement of workers and their families is one of the four fundamental 'freedoms' of the EU, the other three being free movement of goods, services and capital.These freedoms have always been regarded as fundamental for the effective functioning of the single market, but also contribute significantly to an ever-closer Union.From the beginning it was recognised that failure to protect
Source: Administration
Author: Gerry Mangan
Language: English
Topic: European Law and Migration
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2400288155