Mobile Europe: The Theory and Practice of Free Movement in the EU / Ettore Recchi

What do we imagine when we think about a united Europe? According to the Eurobarometer, which recurrently puts this question to a sample of citizens from all the countries of the Union, 'freedom to travel, study and work anywhere in the EU': this is the reply given, year after year, by the majority of the interviewees. It is not the Euro, nor democracy, nor peace among nations, but free movement which epitomizes the European Union in the minds of Europeans.

Ettore Recchi describes the free movement regime of the EU in terms of both its policies and the experiences of the people involved – that is, mobile European citizens. With a particular focus on their integration paths, political participation and identifications, this book draws on large cross-national surveys of this specific population carried out between 2004 and 2012, as well as in-depth interviews and aggregate statistical data from a plethora of sources.

Based on an unprecedented wealth of empirical information, but also on a thorough examination of the historical and legal underpinnings of free movement rights in the EU, this is essential reading for scholars and practitioners of migration, EU studies, international relations and politics. But it offers food for thought to social and political theorists as well, helping to assess the extent to which this unique frontierless migration regime bolsters denationalization and spearheads a cosmopolitan order in the making.