Employment and migrations in Europe: prospects for the Eighties

Abstract

In a preceding article (cf. Análise Social, no. 55), one made an analysis of the recent evolution in the employment issue at the European level. In the present article, one tries, from the scarce information available, to describe the main traits of the prospects open to Europe in the employment field, namely as far as the 1980-1990 decade is concerned. One begins with a very short description of the projections of the employment evolution in Europe as a whole; afterwards one presents and comments the projections concerning, on one side, the countries of the Socialist Europe and, on the other side, the countries of the Capitalist Europe, centering the analysis, in the later case, more specially upon those countries that are members of CEE. The article concludes with the examination of the prospects for migrations in Europe during the eighties. Beyond the specific interest of the theme, the approach put forward in this article makes it possible to infer some conclusions of undisputable utility to the analysis of the employment issue in Portugal and its relations with the enlargement processus of CEE. As a matter of fact, one of the main justifications given by Portuguese authorities for their adherence demand to CEE is that of the possibility of resuming significant Portuguese migratory fluxes towards the countries of those communities. But, in view of the prospects traced in this article, such possibility seems to be extremely doubtful.