Ending freedom of movement may hurt Brits more as EU nationals have 'given up on UK
Expert comment from Professor Guglielmo Meardi, director of the industrial relations unit at Warwick Business School.
"The decline in immigration from the EU has been accelerating over time. These figures are for the period ending in September 2018, so it is very likely that EU net migration to the UK is now clearly in the red.
"This trend is reinforced by non-Brexit factors, such as the narrowing wage gap between Eastern Europe and the UK, and demographic decline in Central Eastern and Southern Europe.
"Therefore, the planned end of freedom of movement with the EU may be more damaging to British nationals pursuing opportunities in Europe, than to EU nationals who appear to have given up on the UK."
Professor Guglielmo Meardi has conducted research on intra-EU labour mobility since the time of the EU enlargement eastwards and is the author of Social Failures of EU Enlargement (2012).