EU CRISIS: The real reason EU wouldn’t let Britain go - Europe in CHAOS

THE EU didn't want to let Britain leave the bloc because the UK offers a more "agreeable, secure, and decent" life to EU citizens - leading to a major brain drain on the continent.

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A phenomenon known as the “brain drain” affected European nations when many university graduates and young workers emigrated from their home countries. In 2010, 5.8 percent of Europeans with a  degree left, motivated by economic need.

Workers were also fleeing from high unemployment, low wages, and poor living standards.

Between 2009 and 2013, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain came close to failing to pay the money their Government’s had borrowed, known as sovereign debt.

Ultimately the European Union and the International Monetary Fund stepped in to bail out Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

This led to political and social chaos amid a backdrop of economic austerity.

Many of their citizens, notably the younger generation, emigrated in search of better economic opportunity.

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EU CRISIS: The real reason EU wouldn’t let Britain go - Europe in CHAOS

EU CRISIS: The real reason EU wouldn’t let Britain go - Europe in CHAOS (Image: Getty)

In a bid to reverse the “brain drain”, European countries have implemented policies to attract their citizens to return home.

In 2019, Greece launched a program offering 500 workers aged between 28 and 40 a job with a pre-tax monthly wage of €3,000 (£2,545).

This would be offered on the condition the workers “bring with them the know-how gained abroad, innovations and fresh ideas”.

The policy, dubbed Rebrain Greece, sees the Government pay 70 percent of the wage and the companies making up the other 30 percent.

EU CRISIS: The real reason EU wouldn’t let Britain go - Europe in CHAOS

Greece had to be bailed out by the EU and the IMF, prompting protests (Image: Getty)

EU CRISIS: The real reason EU wouldn’t let Britain go - Europe in CHAOS

Many European citizens emigrated to countries like the UK in search of better economic opportunities (Image: Getty)

The Portuguese government offers returnees that sign a full-time contract a cash incentive of €2,614 (£2,217), a 50 percent income tax reduction for five years, and up to €3,886 (£3,296) to cover relocation costs.

Only 71 people took up the offer when the policy launched, prompting the Portuguese government to ease some of the requirements.

The Italian government also had to ease requirements for its “Rientro Dei Cervelli” program after a slow uptake.

The “Return Of The Brains” policy offers Italian nationals relocating home for two years minimum a 70 percent income tax break for up to 10 years.

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Pawel Zerka, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), says tax incentives won’t make up for stagnating economies and bad governments.

He said: “This is about much more than just economic incentive.

“Everyone wants to lead a life which is agreeable, secure, and decent.”

Mr Zerka left Poland, whose government also offers an income tax break to its returning workers, for France in 2017 and says he has no immediate plans to return.

EU CRISIS: The real reason EU wouldn’t let Britain go - Europe in CHAOS

Will Britain's exit from the EU reverse the brain drain effect? (Image: Getty)

He argued in an article that instead of the incentives the governments have offered so far, they should instead concentrate their efforts on improving healthcare, education, air quality, corruption and law and order.

Mr Zerka wrote: “If people feel that they lack a better future where they are, many of them will continue to vote with their feet.

“And even the fanciest system of fiscal incentives for people to come back home makes little sense if it is not accompanied with structural reforms.”

World Bank Eurasia experts Cyril Muller and Asli Demirgüç-Kunt echoed Mr Zerka’s views in a blog post, stating that countries should address the underlying socio-economic conditions that led people to leave in the first place.

Complementing the “brain drain” effect was the freedom of movement granted to workers from countries joining the European Union and the Schengen area in the mid to late 2000s.

People in countries like Romania, Latvia and Bulgaria could now settle and work anywhere in the EU.

The attraction of better pay, particularly for young people, saw a significant emigration rate.

A report by the European Commission found that if the current rate of emigration in Romania continued as is until 2060, the country’s population would decrease by 30 percent from 19.9 million to 13.8 million.

Had Romania not been an EU member, that percentage would have dropped to 14 percent.

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