(by Alessandra Briganti)
Young, qualified and ever increasingly attracted by the
opportunities offered by the knowledge economy: this is the
profile of the movers, European citizens of a working age
(20-64) who live in an EU country different from their country
of origin.
And among the countries that register more departures than
arrivals, Italy is signally failing to reverse the brain drain.
This is shown by an analysis of an ESPON study programme,
specialised in EU regional studies, devoted to intra-European
migratory flows and their connection to the knowledge economy
that links learning, innovation and competitiveness, as for
instance happens with start-ups and the technology sector.
Over the years mobility in the EU has changed its nature.
The percentage of those who decide to move to another State of
the Union has increased, but by a lower rate than in the past.
Growing, according to an EU poll on the labour force (EU-LFT),
cited in the study, is the proportion of those possessing a
university qualification, and those who choose to live in an EU
State different from that of origin.
This proportion was 34% in 2019, up 9% on 2009.
Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Spain are the major
destination countries for qualified workers. Before its divorce
from the EU, the UK was attracting the most. On the flip side,
among the main countries that boast the sad record of the
biggest brain drain are Italy, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and
Portugal.
According to the researchers, there is a correlation between the
knowledge economy, more dynamic and competitive above all in
western and northern Europe, and intra-European mobility.
Young qualified workers, according to the researchers, have
higher mobility rates than other segments of the population and
tend to settle in regions where the knowledge economy is more
greatly developed.
In the destination regions and countries, the immigration of
highly qualified workers is often considered an important engine
of development; while on the contrary for the countries of
provenance the brain drain has negative implications in local
areas, whether economic, social or demographic.
From this standpoint, the concentration of the knowledge economy
in certain areas helps increase territorial imbalances among
member States, imbalances that can fuel political instability
and undermine European cohesion.
It will thus be up to the EU's cohesion policy to reduce the
structural disparities that make some regions less attractive in
the eyes of investors and workers, not only by promoting
investment in R&D and digitization, but also by valorising local
knowledge and resources, providing services and infrastructure
of general interest and favouring horizontal and vertical
cooperation among stakeholders, in particular universities and
SMEs.
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