Give me your trustworthy, your orderly, your hardworking: National stereotypes and public views on intra-EU migration

The free movement of people within the European Union (EU) is often presented as one of the EU's major achievements. However, public attitudes towards free movement vary substantially across member states. After the EU’s 2004 enlargement, the trope of the “Polish plumber” captured widespread perceptions of “cheap labour” from Central and Eastern Europe entering Western European labour markets. Similarly, the sharp rise in unemployment during the eurozone crisis led to an increase in migration from Greece, Spain, and Italy to Western and Northern Europe, reinforcing stereotypical portrayals of these nationalities. In this paper, we ask what role national stereotypes play in public considerations about intra-EU migration—also known as mobility. Do negative or positive stereotypes shape public preferences towards intra-EU migration? If so, in what way? Theoretically, we bring together insights from political psychology and political economy to assess how trait attributions toward other EU nationalities—both positive and negative—relate to support for intra-EU mobility. Empirically, we draw on a 2024 observational survey conducted in four member states representative of the EU’s four geographical regions: Germany (Western Europe), Italy (Southern Europe), Romania (Eastern Europe), and Sweden (Northern Europe). Our findings show that individuals who attribute positive stereotypes (e.g., trustworthy, orderly, honest, hardworking) to other EU nationalities are significantly more supportive of intra-EU migration. Conversely, negative stereotypes (e.g., unreliable, thieving, lazy, beggars) are strongly associated with lower support for intra-EU migration. These relationships remain robust when controlling for demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, political ideology, domestic political trust, trust in the EU, and European identification. We also uncover substantial cross-country heterogeneity, which likely reflects differences in countries' economic position within the EU and their distinct historical experiences with intra-EU migration and stereotyping. Taken together, the results demonstrate that national stereotypes are not only widespread but also systematically linked to attitudes toward EU free movement of people. The study contributes to research on public opinion and EU mobility, and to broader scholarship on the role of stereotypes in shaping immigration preferences.