Mobility encompasses the right and the freedom of movement. In order to ensure that this condition can be maintained, the general perspective on mobility must change. Migrants cannot be purely perceived as a ‘commodity’ or some sort of human investment, nor can the shortage in human labour in Europe be easily replaced by recruiting temporarily from abroad. Instead, taking mobility seriously means to re-think the challenge of migration transforming European labour policies tenable, long-term solutions.

• Gervais Appave defines labour migrants as a ‘resource’ that must be treated delicately. He ascribes the increase in human mobility to the deliberate decision by the EU choosing economic growth as the primary policy goal.
• Ibrahim Awad, highlights that also medium and low skilled labour is in demand. Europe’s multiple unintegrated labour markets complicate migration, with the Blue Card providing only little relief.
• Herbert Brücker and Carola Burkert analyse the advantages and disadvantages of supply and demand oriented governance models of immigration, arguing to combine a supply- oriented governance model with demand-oriented control mechanisms.
• Western societies in Europe are growing old fast and life expectancy is rising. Professor Rainer Münz sheds light on possible policy solutions for a shrinking active workforce.
• Gunilla Fincke describes forms of circular migration as a promising method, but no cure for Europe’s de-mographically changing situation. Inevitably, Europe must come to terms with long-term immigration.