July 2012

The Divisiveness of Mobility: Fuelling Populism in the Euro and Schengen Areas

This publication analyzes how the EU can sustain its flagship projects such as the Eurozone and the Schengen passport-free travel area. Despite being one basis for the EU's popular legitimacy, these projects have left an immobile sub-section of the population increasingly worried that more mobile elites will emigrate and abandon it to face national economic decline and debt liabilities alone. The authors argue that if governments are to convince their publics of the need for painful reforms to address structural weaknesses in both the Eurozone and the Schengen area, they need to invest in the mobility of this disadvantaged demographic.

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