THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE EU STATES. WHAT DOES MIGRATION INDICATE?

Migration can foster development by various channels, although it is not a sufficient factor for development. Furthermore, if the origin country does not keep itself on the development path, by increasing attractiveness, migration can undermine the development process by draining its labour force. Romania faces the same problem, continuing to be the source of large migration outflows for over a decade. This proves the low level of attractiveness Romania is irradiating. Only a higher reactivity to the market opportunities, by becoming more attractive, will decrease migration outflows leading to the migration transition. The importance of this paper consists in inducing an assessment of the EU states attractiveness level, drawing attention about the fact that Romania, along with the countries which accessed the last enlargement rounds, needs to focus on two fundamental issues, namely the quality of institutions and infrastructure. The two issues may represent an important challenge in order to increase the attractiveness level and experience the same migration transition process as the older EU member states.