Drawing upon socio-legal research, this insightful book considers labour migration within the context of ('eastward') European Union enlargement. Specifically, this volume explores the legal rights of accession nationals to access employment, their experiences once in work and their engagement with broader family and social entitlement. By combining analysis of the legal framework governing free movement-related rights with analysis of qualitative data gained from interviews with Polish migrants, this volume is able to speculate on the significance the status of Union citizenship holds for nationals of the recently-acceded CEE Member States. Citizenship is conceptualised not merely as rights but as a practice; a real 'lived' experience. The citizenship status of migrants from the CEE Member States is shaped by formal legal entitlement, law in action - as it is implemented by the Member States and 'accessed' by the migrants - and social and cultural perceptions and experiences 'on the ground'.

Providing interdisciplinary and empirically grounded insights into the issues surrounding gender and migration into and within Europe, this work presents a comprehensive and critical overview of the historical, legal, policy and cultural framework underpinning different types of European migration. Analysing the impact of migration on women's careers, the impact of migration on family life and gender perspectives on forced migration, the authors also examine the consequences of EU enlargement for women's migration opportunities and practices, as well as the impact of new regulatory mechanisms at EU level in addressing issues of forced migration and cross-national family breakdown. Recent interdisciplinary research also offers a new insight into the issue of skilled migration and the gendering of previously male-dominated sectors of the labour market.

Drawing upon socio-legal research, this insightful book considers labour migration within the context of ('eastward') European Union enlargement. Specifically, this volume explores the legal rights of accession nationals to access employment, their experiences once in work and their engagement with broader family and social entitlement. By combining analysis of the legal framework governing free movement-related rights with analysis of qualitative data gained from interviews with Polish migrants, this volume is able to speculate on the significance the status of Union citizenship holds for nationals of the recently-acceded CEE Member States. Citizenship is conceptualised not merely as rights but as a practice; a real 'lived' experience. The citizenship status of migrants from the CEE Member States is shaped by formal legal entitlement, law in action - as it is implemented by the Member States and 'accessed' by the migrants - and social and cultural perceptions and experiences 'on the ground'.

Providing interdisciplinary and empirically grounded insights into the issues surrounding gender and migration into and within Europe, this work presents a comprehensive and critical overview of the historical, legal, policy and cultural framework underpinning different types of European migration. Analysing the impact of migration on women's careers, the impact of migration on family life and gender perspectives on forced migration, the authors also examine the consequences of EU enlargement for women's migration opportunities and practices, as well as the impact of new regulatory mechanisms at EU level in addressing issues of forced migration and cross-national family breakdown. Recent interdisciplinary research also offers a new insight into the issue of skilled migration and the gendering of previously male-dominated sectors of the labour market.

The essays which appear in this work are based on the papers presented at a two-day conference held in Liverpool in July 2007 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome establishing the EEC. The collection reflects critically upon some of the EU's historic characteristics and speculates imaginatively on some of the diverse challenges facing the Union in the future. Contributions from both established and emerging scholars of EU law and policy are united by two main themes: the paradox of the resilient yet unstable basis of the Union's constitutional fundamentals, and the ever-contested balance between the EU's core economic mission and its broader social values and aspirations. For any student, scholar or practitioner interested in the dynamic nature of the constitutional relationship between the Union and its Member States, and in the complex tensions underpinning the EU's substantive policies, these essays will be essential reading.