International migration policies in two post-communist countries: comparative evidence from Romania and Poland

In the nineties, Romania and Poland were perceived as the largest countries of emigration and sources of irregular migration to Western Europe states. Later, the dynamics and effects of migration influenced migration policies in the two countries, notably after the start of the accession negotiations with the European Union. This study provides a comparative analysis of labour migration policies in Romania and Poland, investigating the effect of the Europeanization process. Based on a qualitative approach, we discovered a variety of policy responses to the international labour migration dynamics. The results showed that although the constraints of standard European migration policies similarly influenced the labour migration policies of the two states, they were differently affected by the adopted national approaches. In the context of the new, emergent migration patterns, the study provides an analytical framework useful for policy makers and practitioners in the field of labour migration policies.