Integrating the non-EU immigrants into the EU labour market. An econometric analysis of some of the specific factors

Abstract The article explores the impact of some specific barriers to the integration of non-EU immigrants on the European Union labour market, measuring the influence of age, level of education and investments on the employment rate of non-EU immigrants. The study is based on a mixed approach, combining a statistically descriptive analysis of the 2008-2018 European labour market trends (in terms of the non-EU immigrants’ employment rate) with an econometric evaluation, aiming to measure the influence of investments (in terms of % of Gross fixed capital formation in Gross Domestic Product), age of asylum seekers (in terms of % of total asylum seekers) and level of education of non – EU immigrants (in terms of % of total non – EU immigrants). The analysis highlights the fact that the highest impact of non-EU immigrants on the employment rate is found in the case of non-EU immigrants with age between 18-34 and 35-64 years and with a tertiary level of education. For the other categories of non-EU immigrants, with ages outside the aforementioned range and with a lower level of education, the challenges are even much greater, which indicates the importance of specific educational integration policies, focusing mainly on continuous education and training.