Sharing expertise with the EU

Professor Jackline Wahba and Dr Valentina Di Iasio have been examining the effects of the Brexit referendum on migration patterns, shedding light on the significant decline in EU migration to the UK.

The research, published in the European Economic Review, found that the period of uncertainty surrounding the Brexit referendum had a profound impact on migration flows between EU countries and the UK. By examining the determinants of refugees’ destinations within the EU, the research team found that social networks are the biggest pull factor.

In June 2022, Professor Wahba met with members of the European Commission and other experts from the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, to share insights on the European Commission’s proposed initiatives on ‘Attracting skills and talent to the EU’. Research evidence was shared and the proposed initiatives were evaluated. Policy options and potential operational and legislative initiatives to attract skills and talent to the EU were discussed among the group.

In April 2023, Professor Jakub Bijak organised a joint Quantmig, FUME and Hummingbird event on ‘Future migration to Europe’, a gathering of migration experts and scholars with policymakers and practitioners at the European Parliament in Brussels. Professor Bijak also contributed migration expertise to a high-level policy workshop hosted by the European Commission entitled ‘Towards a resilient future of Europe’, as well as being one of 10 demography experts invited in March 2024 to meet with Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the EU Commission for Democracy and Demography, to address demographic changes and their impact on Europe’s competitive edge.

Professor Bijak leads a work package on migration in the FutuRes project, a HorizonEurope transdisciplinary policy lab where decision-makers from research, politics, business and civil society work closely together to create evidenceinformed solutions for ageing societies. In November 2023, he contributed to a FutuRes Policy Lab workshop of leading foresight and forecasting experts. The workshop led to a Population and Policy Brief Face the risk – Dealing with uncertainty when anticipating the future. The brief provides a guide for policymakers to inform policy action and increase societal resilience to crisis and change.

In Spring 2022, Professor Melinda Mills was appointed as of one three Special Advisors to Paolo Gentiloni, the

European Commissioner of the Economy. Paolo Gentiloni has served as the European Commissioner for the Economy in the von der Leyen Commission since December 2019. He previously served as Prime Minister of Italy from 2016 to 2018. In an extension of her previous work on the European Commission’s High-Level Group on post-Covid economic and social challenges, Professor Mills is advising the Commissioner on socioeconomic matters.

Professor Mills is also one of eleven Principal Investigators for the new Einstein Center Population Diversity. The Center aims to improve our understanding of population diversity through interdisciplinary expertise in biosocial health, and the interaction of genetics and biomarkers with population and family diversity.

The new center will also open up new opportunities for early career researchers to advance the study of population diversity, which is an alliance between experts in the LCDS, Oxford and Berlin. The research aims to identify and address inequalities across Europe, driving meaningful progress in biosocial research, and ultimately benefiting society and families.

Further reading

Expecting Brexit and UK migration: Should I go?

(European Economic Review)

Navigating uncertainty: Understanding the impact of Brexit on EU migration to the UK (CPC-CG policy briefing 71)

Policy with Foresight: Preparing for the future in a scientifically rigorous and actionable way (Population Europe Population and Policy Brief)

LCDS Director Melinda Mills appointed as special advisor to the European Commission (LCDS news)

Oxford-Berlin alliance launches the Einstein Center Population Diversity (LCDS news)