Public opinion about migrant selection in Northern Europe

The chapter describes public opinion towards non-EU-migrants' access to residence and citizenship in Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark using an original conjoint study in the four countries. The chapter finds public support for migrant selection in all four countries. The conjoint experiment describes how the public favour migrants with high human capital and those culturally similar to the "natives". The residency experiment also shows that migrants leaving origin countries due to personal persecution and to civil wars are more welcome than those leaving due to climate changes, better wages and welfare benefits. The conjoint experiment also shows a willingness to accept marriages as a legitimate reason for giving residency. The experiments found little variation across the four countries. The chapter concludes that the public, as well as their politicians, is caught in a dilemma between humanitarian and liberal values, on the one hand, and preferences of selecting "the best" migrants, on the other.