The aim of this article is to analyse the role and determinants of labour migration in EU labour markets depending on migrants’ nationality of origin, manpower qualifications, the characteristics of migrants in the labour market and their origin inside or outside the EU. Immigration to EU countries is sensitive to variables representing labour market imbalances, such as relative wage levels (receiving country wage compared to EU weighted average wage) and relative unemployment rates (receiving country unemployment rate compared to EU unemployment rate). However, the effect of these variables on immigration flows varies strongly from country to country and remains limited overall. Furthermore, there is quite high inertia in European migration, unlike in the US: from one year to the next, nearly 60% of flows, on average, repeat themselves. There are also behavioural differences between non-EU immigrants, who are more subject to labour market variations, and EU migrants or nationals returning to their country of origin.