Challenges and opportunities of international migration for the EU, its member states, neighboring countries, and regions : a Policy Note

The note aims at identifying key challenges and opportunities, including win-win solutions that would allow sending and receiving countries in and around Europe to benefit most from geographic mobility of people. The note (i) highlights demographic, economic and political gaps explaining international migration; (ii) explores the main options for the EU member states and reviews the experiences of traditional countries of immigration; (iii) investigates the implications of a pro-active recruitment approach, including the impacts on both sending and receiving countries; and (iv) sketches the institutional requirements and necessary changes to move toward win-win solutions, identifying areas of potential cooperation between sending and receiving countries. The paper concludes with a short summary and an outlook on open data and research questions.