Though often perceived as a national or supranational policy problem, due to its broad and severe negative effects, brain drain can be addressed successfully at the subnational level. Local and regional public authorities play a crucial role in addressing this issue, since local communities are the ones that are directly affected by the consequences of brain drain: the loss of an educated work force is a huge strategic threat for local communities throughout the Union.
The direct experience of local authorities in addressing brain drain can provide success stories and best practices that could be helpful in developing a coherent policy at EU level. Brain drain still also requires action at Member State and European Union level, but the role of national and supranational authorities should be to coordinate and facilitate efforts at the subnational levels and to build consensus between the Member States about how brain drain should be framed and addressed, so as to create a win-win situation for all stakeholders.
This opinion looks into the different aspects of brain drain and seeks to find answers i.a. to the following questions:
How can brain drain be transformed into brain gain?
What specific problems do sending and receiving regions confront? What sort of policies can be implemented to assist these two categories of region?
How can local and regional public authorities respond in a direct and effective way to the challenges of brain drain? How can best practices/success stories at local level be disseminated and better understood by other local and regional authorities?
What are the main demographic challenges for the European Union that are relevant to brain drain?
What policies to attract, retain, and re-attract an educated workforce can be designed and implemented at local and regional level?