Migration policies for a Romania within the European Union: Navigating between Scylla and Charybdis

In this paper, first I outline Romania’s recent emigration history, followed by a more detailed analysis of its contemporary characteristics. Next, I focus on what may prove to be a problem in the future – brain-drain and skill losses, along with their ameliorative counterpart of migrants’ remittances. The issue of immigration into Romania is then addressed, which closely fits the Scylla and Charybdis analysis as border controls are largely EU-directed, whereas future labour market needs for immigration may seem too far in the future to worry about. Finally, I conclude with a section on policy issues: here, I try to identify what seem likely to arise as the most demanding structural issues in the management of immigration, emigration and economic development of Romania