Timeframe: Completed
Project Manager: Jonas Eriksson

Even though the potential consequences in the EU15 of the eastern enlargement received much attention in the public debate prior to 1 May 2004, Sweden, Ireland and the UK did not introduce transitional rules. They therefore serve as examples from which we can gain valuable information on the implications of opening the borders to the CEEC Member States. In 2006 SIEPS and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in Ireland jointly examined how free movement for labour has affected migration flows to and from Ireland and Sweden after enlargement.

In the report, published in 2007, new data was employed that allow us to better examine the labour market effects and the impact on the social security system from EU enlargement.