How can we reach EU labour migrants who stay under the radar?

Free movement within the EU makes working across borders easy, but it also brings challenges. EU labour migrants often do not know their rights and obligations, while municipalities have little visibility into who lives and works in their city. This raises an important question for municipalities: how do you reach and support a group that remains largely invisible?

Project coordinator Remmelt de Weerd and researchers Gijs Giesen, Karijn Nijhoff, and Rosa Groen – together with colleagues from other research groups at The Hague University of Applied Sciences – are exploring how to improve access to information for EU labour migrants. Now that the project has been granted 1.7 million euro in Interreg Europe funding, the team is ready to get started. We spoke with researcher Gijs Giesen about the project.

What is the problem?

"Labour migrants are also referred to in EU jargon as ‘mobile EU citizens’," Gijs explains. "Our research focuses on the fact that they often remain under the radar. As EU citizens, they do not need a visa due to the EU’s free movement principles, but at the local level, municipalities often struggle to keep track of who lives and works where."

Why is that important?

"The problem is that many labor migrants are left in the dark as well. They often do not know what the minimum wage is, how many temporary contracts they are allowed to have, or which local services, such as childcare, are available to them."

"Meanwhile, employers hold significant power. In many sectors where mobile EU citizens work, jobs and housing are often linked. This has major consequences for the workers. If they lose their job, they may also lose their home."

So free movement within the EU also has (unintended) negative consequences?

"In practice, we see that low-skilled workers, who take on jobs that local populations do not, can be vulnerable to exploitation. This can result in low wages, long working hours, and limited access to social safety nets."

An international project

Remmelt, Gijs, Karijn, and Rosa are working alongside colleagues from The Hague University of Applied Sciences and municipalities in seven other European countries to explore ways to improve information accessibility for labor migrants within the EU. This diverse consortium ensures a geographically balanced approach, taking into account the unique characteristics and needs of EU labor migrants across different regions.

Partners in this project are the municipality of The Hague (Netherlands), GuissonaMunicipality Council (Spain), Pannon Business Network Association (Hungary), Centre for Development of the Vardar Planning Region (North Macedonia), Ninove Municipality (Belgium), JPYP Business Service (Finland), Cluj-Napoca Municipality (Romania) and the region of Peloponnese (Greece).

About Interreg Europe

Interreg Europe supports regional development by promoting interregional cooperation within the EU. The programmeaimstoimprove the effectiveness of regional development policiesandfacilitate the sharing of best practicesbetween European regions.

Would you like to learn more about this project? Or do you have experiences to share? Let us know! Send an email to Remmelt de Weerd (see details below).

Interested in collaboration?

Contact us for an introductory meeting

Remmelt de Weerd

R.J.deWeerd@hhs.nl