Committee of
Employment and Social Affairs
Greener Grass - Many of Europe’s best and brightest are emigrating from poorer to richer Member States to find a better future. As a result, many of the European Union’s poorer Member States have a large shortage of highly skilled workers such as doctors and engineers. This in turn leads to labour shortages and stunted economic growth. What can the European Union do to help these Member States retain highly skilled workers without infringing on the right to free movement?
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Introduction
The number of European citizens working in other countries within the European bloc has doubled in last ten years. Since joining the EU in 2004, Lithuania for example has seen a decrease in population of 15% as many Lithuanians migrated to more prosperous EU Member States. Similarly, since 1992 Bulgaria has seen 3 million people emigrate to more prosperous European States.
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These numbers are alarming. The extent of the current brain drain in Europe heavily affects the labour market both in the country of origin and across the whole EU. One of the key consequences of brain drain is a skill shortage in the relevant country of origin. The current supply of skilled professionals is insufficient to meet the demands of fields such as information technology (ICT), medical and healthcare, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and education.
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The consequences of brain drain are most prominent in less economically developed Member States. Mass emigration from these countries results in a weakened economy, widening the economic gap visible between Eastern and Western Europe. Another factor playing a significant role is a lack of graduates in critical fields with the largest skill shortages. For example, in STEM subjects the dropout rates are often high, cooperation with the market after graduating almost non-existent and ratio between male and female students very uneven.
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Another factor exacerbating the issue is Europe’s ageing population. Low birth rates result in a decline in the size of the workforce and place pressure both on national health systems and social services.
Free movement of people
Free movement of people is one of the so-called “four freedoms” and one of the core values of the EU. It means that every citizen can migrate freely within Europe for work, studies or retirement.
Skill surplus
Skill surplus is situation in the labour market where the number of people with a particular type of skills is higher than the demand for that type of skill.
Key terms
Brain drain
Brain drain is a phenomenon where a country loses its young and educated people through emigration. They often move to more prosperous regions in the hope of better work and life opportunities.
Vocational education
Vocational education, for example universities or community colleges, is a post-secondary education that prepares people for various positions. Vocational education comes after secondary (high school) education.
Skill mismatch
Skill mismatch is defined as the gap between an individual’s job skills and the demands of the job market.
Push - Pull Factors
Push - pull factors are the factors that drive people away from (push) or draw them to (pull) a certain location/situation.
Main conflicts
The main European conflict relating to this topic is the clash between the concepts of free movement of people and brain drain.
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On one hand, free movement of people is one of the core values of the EU. Free movement of people offers various advantages to EU citizens, such as providing them with the right to be employed or reside in another EU country under the same conditions as naturalised citizens.
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On the other hand, it is undeniable that brain drain has a negative effect on the country of origin. The resulting workforce of states affected by brain drain is insufficient to meet demand, leading to a skills surplus and a declining economy. This human capital flight leads to less people paying into national social systems. Other push factors for brain drain usually involve a lack of career opportunities, low wages and poor working conditions in the home country.
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In some countries experiencing brain drain, such as Bulgaria or Romania, political and social factors have exacerbated the issue of skilled emigration. Western European countries often offer a higher quality of life and more efficient government, in contrast to states like Romania where bribery and corruption are common. In Romania, a lack of skilled professionals and a healthcare system susceptible to corruption led to 14,000 doctors emigrating between 2009 and 2015.
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Although the effects of brain drain may not be very visible at the moment, its impact is set to grow exponentially over the next few decades - causing the gap in economic development of EU countries to further increase. How can we avoid the increasingly serious consequences of brain drain while still maintaining the free movement of people as a fundamental pillar of Europe?
Stakeholders
"Developed" Member States
“Developed” Member States, usually in Western Europe, are the ones attracting economic migrants. They benefit by gaining valuable human capital and skilled professionals. However, the increasing economic development gap between different EU Member States in not good on the whole EU level and therefore eventually neither for them. What attracts the skilled workers are usually higher wages with a better quality of life along with more opportunities.
"Developing" Member States
“Developing” Member States on the other hand, suffer from brain drain largely with severe effects on the country’s economy. Those are usually stunted economy and rise in the demand in certain fields, making the supply faulty to the demand. Some of the factors often pushing skilled people out of those countries are lower wages, less opportunities and the political and social situation.
Measures in place
As crucial as brain drain and skill shortage are for European economies, there is no current law overseeing the labour market or trying to tackle the problem of brain drain on a pan-European level. Also, as the Free Movement of People is one of the core values of the EU, a limitation of it in the near future is not foreseeable. The Member States therefore often don’t tackle the problem on a legal way, but through funding and financial incentives:
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Funding programmes in EU Member States include Návrat by the Czech government, Momentum by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Welcome and Homing Plus by the Foundation for Polish Science and Slovensko Calling in Slovakia. All of these, except the Slovak project which focuses on highly skilled citizens in general, focus on bringing back young bright scientists from abroad.
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Pan-European scientific funding and grant programmes are also available. EU funds and research projects include the European Regional Development Fund, Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions and Horizon 2020. Young professional researchers may apply to these programmes to receive funding and thus have the financial stability to remain in their home country.
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Although brain drain is being discussed more and more in the media, legal actions seem to fall behind, failing to efficiently tackle this issue. It is both up the Member States and the EU itself to address the harmful side of human capital flight before it is too late.
The Citizens
The citizens themselves play a crucial role, as they are the ones deciding whether to migrate or not; and in case of yes if to come back any time in the future. Broken down, their decisions are essential for either boosting or stunting the economy.
The European Union
The EU with its free movement, single market and projects like EURES network strongly supports worker mobility. Considering the impact brain drain has on EU’s economy as a whole it is in their own interest to start taking action on a pan European level.
Key Questions & Further Research
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Baring mind that to a certain extent migration is natural, what would be the right way to treat brain drain and economic migration within EU?
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Besides persuading graduates not to emigrate is there any other way to solve skill shortage in EU Member States?
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How would you discourage young skilled people from emigrating and what would you offer them instead?
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East-West Migration and Income Convergence in Europe, by the International Monetary Fund
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What does it take for brain drain reversal initiatives to be effective?
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A news article on Romania's Attempts To Counter The Brain Drain
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The European Commission’s website on Free movement of People