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Description: Extending free movement of workers (FMW) to the new member states from Central and Eastern Europe was one of the most controversial political decisions in the history of the European Union. In this paper, we study how the introduction of FMW affected immigrants’ labour market integration in Germany. Using data from the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample, we show that the introduction of FMW was associated with a higher influx of skilled workers. Moreover, FMW has increased the probability of labour market entry within one year after arrival by twelve percentage points. Correspondingly, FMW improved welfare not only by increasing the scale of migration but also by raising immigrants’ skill level and reducing the time before entry into the labour market. Our findings thus yield new insights on the beneficial effects of FMW on labour market integration of immigrants in the Common Market.