This article reviews how the newly emerged east-west mobility patterns impacted the labor market options of the labor force in host member states and stayers in the source members. It concludes that free mobility in an enlarged EU increased the efficiency of its labor markets.

The eastern enlargements of the EU and the extension of the free movement of labor to the new member states have provided for increased mobility in the EU. This article reviews how the newly emerged east-west mobility patterns impacted the labor market options of the labor force in host member states and stayers in the source members. The literature generally finds positive aggregate effect on the host labor force, although micro-level adjustment may create winners and losers and integration of immigrants is limited. In spite of the fears of brain drain from the sending countries, empirical evidence also indicates positive effects on wages and employment of the stayers. A study about the effects of husbands’ employment abroad on the labor market status of Slovak women provides additional evidence of positive effects of husbands’ outmigration of their wives’ labor market outcomes. This study concludes that free mobility in an enlarged EU increased the efficiency of its labor markets.