East, west, home is best? Migration in Europe

‘Travel east or travel west, a man’s own house is still the best’ says a Dutch proverb. Proverbial scepticism is, however, not reflected in the attitude of today’s Europeans towards exploring other regions and foreign countries: when asked what the EU represents to them, 53% of citizens put ‘freedom to travel and work in the EU’ first, well ahead of the introduction of the euro and safeguarding peace.This fact sheet forms part of the Eurofound resource pack on ‘East, west, home is best? Migration in Europe’. The pack explores the issue of migration, providing insights from the perspective of Member States, cities and workers.