Following a partner, being with family and having a better quality of life are the main factors that motivate Europeans to move to another country, new research shows. Of the 2% of European citizens who live in a country other than their own, only a quarter move because of employment. 1 in 2 has previously lived abroad, often with support from European programmes such as ERASMUS. The study noticed differences in motivating factors and profiles of those moving from one country to another.

Spain is a primary destination for the older generation seeking a better quality of life, whereas the UK was a target for younger people seeking non-manual work. The profile of the average migrant within the EU is middle-class, skilled and well-educated, who generally has non-manual work in the country of destination, and has a positive attitude to the EU. The PIONEUR project, funded with just under €1m from the EU’s Research Framework Programme, studied the profile and attitudes of 5000 EU nationals resident in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.

About 2% of European citizens currently live in an EU country other than their own. The study shows that 30% move because of their partner or family, 24% because they are searching for a better quality of life, and 25% for employment. The main pull factor that brings people to France and Spain is quality of life. In Italy it is a partner or family and people tend to move to Germany and UK to work and study. 1 in 2 of these migrants has lived abroad before and for the younger amongst them, this was often through their participation in programmes such as ERASMUS.

The profile of such residents changes according to the destination country. Italy and Spain attract the largest number of retirees. People retiring to another country tend to come from big cities, and settle in rural areas, whereas those moving to another country to work tend to come from rural areas and settle in capitals and other big cities. Migration to Germany is more dominated by manual jobs, whereas those moving to the UK tend to be professionals (especially in the finance, insurance and real estate sectors). The overall majority has middle class backgrounds, doing non-manual jobs in the host country.

Those who live in another EU country are more politically active than the general population and are more left-leaning in their politics. They are interested in the politics of their host country, particularly long-term residents, and are slightly more likely to participate in European elections. Spanish migrants are the most likely to vote, Italians are the most critical about the politics of their home country and the British the most likely to take part in a public demonstration or contact their political representatives.

For most of EU citizens living in a country other than their own, feeling European is perfectly compatible with attachment to both their country of origin and their country of residence.

The PIONEUR project was co-ordinated by the University of Florence, and included partners from Spain, Germany, France and the UK. Its findings support similar studies about the profile of the average European living in a country other than his own, and the reasons for moving.

The European Commission has recently published a study, which found that workers’ mobility from the EU Member States in Central and Eastern Europe to EU15 has had mostly positive effects and has been in most countries quantitatively less important than foreseen. Workers from EU10 helped to relieve labour market shortages and contributed to better economic performance in Europe.

This PIONEUR project comes at the beginning of the European Year of Workers’ Mobility. The Year's €10 million budget will be dedicated to mobility awareness raising projects and major events, such as a Vienna Mobility conference in June and 'Job Fair Europe' in September - which will see job fairs in more than 50 European cities. Projects will include "mobility evenings" on a European TV channel and in Paris in December 2006, a publicity campaign in the Metro magazines in all European metros, new films showing the value of mobility and a blog on the European Year of Workers' Mobility web site. Several studies are planned to assess mobility's impact and to improve statistical data. A European prize will be awarded to the organisation that has contributed the most to worker mobility.

For information in PIONEUR: http://www.obets.ua.es/pioneur/