The backlash against free movement: Does EU‐internal migration fuel public concerns about immigration?

The free movement of people is a fundamental principle of the European Union (EU) that has led to an increase in EU‐internal migration. This study investigates the impact of increased immigration to Germany resulting from the 2004 and 2007 eastern enlargement of the EU on concerns about immigration...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of political research 2024-11, Vol.63 (4), p.1578-1600
Main Authors: STOETZER, LUKAS F., KROH, MARTIN, DASEY, LEONARD
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accession
anti‐immigration attitudes
Averages
EU eastern enlargement
European integration
Immigrants
Immigration
Immigration policy
Internal migration
labour market competition
migration
Panel data
Political development
Political integration
postmaterialism
Public interest
Statistics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The free movement of people is a fundamental principle of the European Union (EU) that has led to an increase in EU‐internal migration. This study investigates the impact of increased immigration to Germany resulting from the 2004 and 2007 eastern enlargement of the EU on concerns about immigration within the German population. By merging 20 years of annual migration statistics with panel data on individual attitudes and exploiting exogenous variation in the gradual enlargement of the free movement policy, we examine the causal effects of EU‐internal migration on immigration concerns. Our findings suggest that the influx of immigrants from new member states did not have a clear average effect on concerns about immigration, but increased concerns among German natives with materialist‐survival values. The study provides insights into the societal division caused by opposition to immigration as part of the European integration process.
ISSN:0304-4130
1475-6765
DOI:10.1111/1475-6765.12666