European agency reports surge in illegal migration, fueling a debate

John Springford, an expert on immigration at the Center for European Reform, based in London, said that while immigration had been initially welcomed by European policy makers as a means to offset Europe’s aging population, the economic downturn in Britain and elsewhere after the financial crisis of 2008 had spread consternation that immigrants were taking away scarce jobs.

“In the UK, the recession has given an added piquancy to anti-immigrant backlash,” he said. “There are fears that Romanians and Bulgarians will take away jobs, even as there is little evidence for this.”

... But Mr Springford said that while there was new pressure in Europe to tighten immigration policies, Europe’s leaders were nevertheless extremely wary of undermining the free movement of citizens, since it was one of the bloc’s founding principles.