Determinants and size of international migration in Central and Eastern europe

Migration is a very important socio-economic issue in the contemporary world. One of the interesting and pertinent research problems worth considering concerns the scale and nature of migration from countries which entered the European Union in 2004 and later. As a result of integration with European communities, the citizens of member states acquired citizenship of the European Union  (which is complementary to the citizenship of the country of origin). The right of free movement caused development of a migration phenomenon in the European Union. A Well educated, young labour force could be a factor of social and economic development for the European Union`s members.

The enlargement of the EU led to a significant increase in the number of part-time/temporary migrants. According to statistical data, the number of emigrants from Central and Eastern European Countries (CEE) to the more prosperous European countries increased from 1,7 million in 2004 to 5,6 million in 2012. In the context of the scale of economic migration from the CEE, there are important questions about determinants and economic consequences of mobility.

The main objective is diagnosis and evaluation of the conditions and size of migration in the CEE. The analyses are based on Eurostat data. The conditions of migration are presented from the point of view of the theory of push and pull factors and is concerned with the situation in the European labour market. The analysis of  the scale of migration outflow from CEE enabled clasification of those states into 3 groups: with high emigration potential (Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, Romania), moderate emigration potential (Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia, Slovakia) and low emigration potential (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia). The economic consequences of migration are shown from the perspective of remittances received from working abroad.

Key words: migration, UE enlargement, Central and Eastern European Countries determinants of migration, remittances