In the lives of states today migration plays one of the more important roles, since states are forced to pay great attention to regulating the causes and consequences of this phenomenon. Accordingly the efforts of individual states are not as effective as determining a common policy. In this article the author aims to analyze the main guidelines and tendencies of current EU policy with respect to migration; briefly to review the relevant factual situation; and to inquire to what extent and in what ways EU policy influences the policies and lawmaking of the national member states and third parties.

It is universally recognized that the migration phenomenon is a controversial matter and that many countries (especially developing ones) are suffering from large outflows of specific categories of migrants, usually with medium to high skills. This may cause serious problems and is related to the phenomenon of “brain drain,” causing a negative impact on development in the countries of origin. At the same time both internationally (at the UN level) and regionally (at the EU level) there are on-going discussions that “circular migration” could be the “medication” for this illness. The author aims to provide a definition of circular migration; to discuss its types, its advantages and disadvantages; and to explore whether this phenomenon is really able to solve the problems associated with “brain drain.” This aim is achieved by using theoretical analysis of international and national legal acts, the scholarly literature, historic, comparative, systemic and other scientific methods. The author concludes that circular migration is one of the priorities in the formation of contemporary migration policy both on the international and the national level. But scientific analysis reveals that there are many controversial issues and unanswered questions regarding the phenomenon of circular migration and that further scientific research is needed to ascertain the advantages of circular migration and to propose mechanisms for regulating it most effectively.