European Populations: Unity in Diversity was the general theme of the 1999 European Population Conference, which convened in The Hague (The Netherlands) from 30 August to 3 September on behalf of the European Association for Population Studies (EAPS), The International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, (IUSSP), The Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), Statistics Netherlands (SN), and The Netherlands Demographic Society (NVD). On the threshold of the third millennium, Europe is facing major and challenging demographic issues that, to a large extent, will shape its future. These challenges formed the basis for selecting special underlying themes for the plenary sessions at the conference. Four outstanding population experts were invited to present their views. Written versions of their presentations form the contents of this book. Dirk van de Kaa (The Netherlands) describes Europe and its population. Henri Leridon (France) addresses the question ‘How do Europeans plan their families?’. Giuseppe Gesano (Italy) considers the relationship between demographic trends and the labour market, and Marek Okolski (Poland) writes about Europe’s recent international migration history.