Was den polnischen Klempner in den Norden lockt. Zur heutigen Arbeitsmigration nach Norwegen und Schweden

In the course of the negotiations about the Eastern enlargement of the EU in 2004, objections were raised against the immediate enforcement of unrestricted freedom of movement of labour forces because of the possible destabilizing effects this could have on the labour markets as well as the welfare systems of the Western European member states. In order to avoid these effects, the vast majority of the member states reacted by introducing temporary arrangements and other regulations. A comparison made between the liberal policy of Sweden which did not introduce any regulations and the more restrictive case of Norway shows that the feared effects did not set in. The actual extent of migration depends foremost on the demand for labour force in the receiving countries. Regulations are leading to the search for alternative strategies in order to circumvent the existing restrictions.