Fears over fresh wave of immigrants dismissed
A report issued by the commission showed that about 220,000 people a year from the new member states are likely to move to the existing 15 if the borders were open to them.
But there are no fears that the full 220,000 will move to the two countries after May 1, according to Dr Hubert Krieger, who carried out the study and works with the EU Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
He dismissed suggestions that unemployed people will move to take advantage of social benefits. Of those who said they might be interested in moving, just 2% were unemployed.
"In these countries people depend a lot on the support of their families to get by. There is also a higher percentage of homeowners than in Ireland.
Why would they endanger their social networks and give this up to move to Ireland," he said.
However, that report is now two years old and there is no new research on how many people may want to come to Ireland and Britain - the only two countries without restrictions.
Almost three quarters of those interested in migrating were single people according to the study.
Those who said they would like to migrate tended to be young, single and educated. "It's the better-educated that will take the plunge," said Dr Krieger who moved to Dublin years ago from Germany to work for the EU Foundation.
The real problem could be a brain drain from the new member states, he said.
Between 2 to 3% of the 15 to 24-year-olds indicated a firm intention to move to western Europe.
About a third of them are students and a quarter educated to university level.
"There is a serious risk of a youth and brain drain according to these figures," said Dr Krieger.
A third of potential migrants say they would only move part-time for a few months of the year, while another third think they would like to go for between one and seven years.
Most people are only interested in moving to the countries next door, so Ireland and Britain would be too far away, he said. The main areas likely to encounter problems after enlargement were parts of Germany and Austria.
Parliament President Pat Cox criticised what he called the hysteria about migration.
He said, "It is greatly to be regretted that at a moment of such historic significance for Europe as we arrive at the realisation of a strategic and shared objective that so much of the debate has been reduced to accountancy and mere hype, speculation and unsubstantiated claims, about migration".
