Shifting patterns and reactions – migration policy in the new EU member states

This article presents an analysis of patterns of migration and related policy reactions in the new EU member states. The empiric findings that combine both similarities and dissimilarities between cases are interpreted against two major context factors: (1) democratic and economic transition as well as (2) Europeanisation. As it turns out, late socialism and the first stage of transition are more relevant for understanding migration flows, whereas impacts from the EU level help us to make sense of the character of reactions. As expected by Europeanisation research, the migration policies of Central European countries do not amount to homogeneous profiles of migration policy. In order to understand differences, we can again refer to different transition paths prevalent in specific cases.