In the past few years, migration from other Member States of the European Union (EU) has accounted for
the largest portion by far of the overall immigration into Germany. At the same time, however, the highly hetero-
geneous group of EU migrants receives little attention in the context of local integration work when compared
to other groups. The lack of integration offers, in fact, poses an obstacle in the desire of those persons wishing to
stay in the country. However, rural regions in particular stand to greatly benefit from long-term intra-EU mobility
as it has the potential to counteract the increasing shortage of skilled workers, demographic change and the
population drain of predominantly younger persons, who are moving to other, mostly urban, areas.