The Emigration Observatory announces the date of its conference, scheduled for October 2, 2025, at Iscte - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, in a room to be designated shortly. The conference will feature Claudia Hartmann-Hirsch from the University of Luxembourg.

ABSTRACT

The economic crisis of 2007-2008 marked a turning point in the recent history of Portuguese emigration, intensifying migratory flows to various European destinations, with Luxembourg standing out. In this context, we are seeing the emergence of a new wave of Portuguese emigrants, who tend to be more qualified than previous generations, but whose socio-professional integration remains, to a large extent, below that of nationals.
This phenomenon is occurring in a country characterised by a high percentage of highly qualified immigration, often above the national average.

The conference will focus on the work Libre circulation: ouverture ou restriction? L’exemple d’une migration récente du Portugal vers le Luxembourg, by Claudia Hartmann-Hirsch and Senyo Fofo, analyses the contemporary dynamics of intra-European mobility based on the Portuguese case in Luxembourg. Through this study, the authors question the evolution of the principle of free movement in the European Union, highlighting the reinforcement of control and selection mechanisms by several Member States, particularly regarding migrants with fragile labour market integration or who are dependent on social support. Recent case law from the Court of Justice of the EU points to a process of renationalisation of rights associated with mobility, ushering in a new phase of Europeanization: more selective, more unequal.

Based on the Luxembourg case, the conference proposes a broad reflection on the contemporary challenges facing Portuguese mobility in the European space and on the growing divisions between different profiles of migrants within the EU itself.