EU Migration from Romania and Bulgaria: What does the public think?

On 1st January 2014, Britain opened its borders to Romania and Bulgaria, in a moment being greeted less with fanfare and more with reluctance. A heated public debate polarised around two viewpoints. Some demanded that the government must stop this, though the Home Office says it is simply not legally possible. A counter-view was that the entire debate about free movement was irrational at best and often downright xenophobic. The noisy political and media debate fed into another unfortunate view, namely that the public should not be listened to on immigration or Europe.

In this report, EU Migration from Romania and Bulgaria, the authors did the opposite – listened to the public’s views. They held workshops in Southampton, Reading and Bolton to find out how much people knew about the issues and what they thought could be done in response, followed up by a nationally representative ICM poll.

Despite impassioned polemics from all sides, the authors found considerable public uncertainty about the choices that Britain should make. This extension of free movement, and especially its timing, are certainly not popular – though a minority of one in six actively welcome it. Whether to stay in that club seems very much in the balance too: people are taking the option of getting out of the EU pretty seriously. The public also want more information about what is happening, and feel the politicians have failed to give them enough.

Other major findings revealed in the report include:

– How the 'generation gap' manifests between older and younger people when it comes to thoughts on leaving the EU.
– What people think about the recent wave of migration from Poland.
– Which actions can be taken to address people’s anxieties ahead of the potential next wave of EU migration.