In recent years, there has been a lack of empirical work devoted to the explanation of migration patterns into the European Union with the exception of country specific studies. At the same time, migration theories have undergone a considerable renewal, which has led to the development of new variables for explaining migration decisions. Three of them are of particular interest in the EU case, namely welfare magnets, border effects and policy regulations. This paper aims at explaining recent migration trends into the EU. A first contribution is to provide an original eclectic theoretical model from the new developments in migration theories. Second, an empirical panel data model is developed in order to explain the emigration rate into 18 EU countries, from 67 source countries over the past 10 years. Finally, this model simultaneously tests the impact of the traditional and the new variables on migration flows into the EU. From both static and dynamic panel data estimators, the results show that the new variables are of particular significance, compared to traditional ones.