Navigation menu

Director of the Kent Centre for Europe leads Brussels event on intra-EU migration

Roger Vickerman, Professor of Economics at the University of Kent and Director of the Kent Centre for Europe, was joined in Brussels by Peter Gilroy OBE, Chief Executive of Kent County Council (KCC), and key representatives from south-east of England interest groups for an event on Tuesday 15 April titled Managing the Challenges to Maximise the Benefits: Scoping the Local Impacts of Intra-EU Migration.

The event, which was organised by the KCC's Brussels Office, in which the University of Kent is a partner, South East England Brussels Office and Southern England Local Partners, was arranged to consider the demographic impact of intra-EU migration on the UK, the economic impact in south-east England, and the issues, benefits and challenges of intra-EU migration for Europe as a whole. It also featured local case studies from south-east England.

The speakers included: Sajid Butt, Economic Inclusion Research Manager, South East England Development Agency; Chief Inspector Brian Bracher, Sussex Police; Anthony Pascoe, New Communities Project Manager, Southampton City Council; Jacqui Ball, Head of Strategy, Partnership, Economic & Cultural Development, Arun District Council; Professor John Eade, Executive Director, Centre for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism, University of Surrey; and Rafiq Chohan, Head of Economic Development, Diversity and Equality, Slough Borough Council.

The aims and objectives of the event were: to raise awareness at EU level of the unintended local impacts from sustained intra-EU migration and how those impacts may be addressed for the benefit of the people concerned; to scope the research base of the local economic and social impacts of intra-EU migration in old and new EU member states; and to network with like-minded regions and local authorities in old and new EU member states to exchange good practice on intra-EU migration.

Professor Vickerman said: 'EU policy currently places greater emphasis on tackling the barriers to intra-EU migration rather than working on the impacts such migration may have. With a number of years of practical experience of the economic and social impacts of intra-EU migration to draw on, this event considered the conclusions that may be drawn, the lessons that have been learned and the good practices that could be shared to maximise the benefits of intra-EU migration at local levels.'

The target audience for the event was local and regional officials from old and new EU member states and representatives of key NGOs, think tanks, academia, unions, churches, employers, and social and economic lobby groups.

Staff from the University of Kent at Brussels, which offers an MA in Migration Studies, also attended the event.

Contact: mediaoffice@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 12:39pm 16 April 2008