The Romanian white-collar immigrants in Brussels: a transnational community under construction

Abstract

Focusing on a population of white-collar immigrants who chose to move from Romania to Brussels-Capital Region between 2014 and 2019, this article signals the formation of a third wave of Romanian migration. The participants in the study are Romanians residing in Brussels, corresponding to the features of the European Man (Homo Europaeus) and they belong to the "middle class" leaving Romania at an accelerated pace motivated by the desire to achieve a transnational lifestyle and an improvement of subjective well-being. We draw our findings from both quantitative data on mobility in the EU and qualitative research that reveals what are the elements that push, attract, and retain RWCIs to Brussels. It is also an opportunity to reflect upon the notion of sense of place experienced by a population that, despite having only recently moved to Brussels, already shows a high degree of attachment.

Keywords

• Romanian migration
• Brussels
• transnational lifestyle
• white-collar
• sense of place