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Breakfast in Vilnius for Helen Neuberg. Helen is Swedish. She's been living in the Lithuanian capital for nine months where she's in charge of the local subsidiary of a large Swedish company specialised in customer support.

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At the same time in Cyprus, Michael Gorman and his wife Liz are enjoying the peace and quiet of their terrace. They're both retired and left their native England ten months ago to spend their old age in sunny acclaims.

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Meanwhile, Matthias Beemer, a young German, is spending his last few weeks in Budapest. He's lived here for four years studying for his degree in medicine. Mission accomplished. Now he's getting ready to go back to his home country where he'll marry Sofia, his Hungarian fiancée.

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Three protagonists with three different stories. But they have one point in common. Mobility. They have all left their home country to live somewhere else in Europe for professional, personal or academic reasons. Between 1960 and today, the mobility of people has quadrupled in Europe.

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Before his departure, our former student, Matthias, makes a last visit to Budapest Hospital to see the patients he treated as part of his practicals. His decision to study in Hungary was thought out carefully, particularly because some medical schools in Hungary teach courses in German.

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It's 9.30. Helene arrives at her company's office in Vilnius.

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Every day life in the new country is not always easy, especially when you find yourself in Lithuania overnight, so to speak. Initially, Helene was only supposed to work here a few weeks, but she's now been here for over nine months and quite a few practical matters have not yet been tackled.

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The answer to her questions is just a phone call away. Helene decides to speak English.

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Good morning, Europe Direct. How can I help you?

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Europe Direct is a centralized service of the European Commission that answers European citizens' questions in the 20 official languages.

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Normally there is agreement about avoiding double taxation between two member states.

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Isabella, the multilingual operator, focuses straight away on Helene's situation and gives her a clear and precise answer.

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Europe Direct is a free service and available in the 25 countries of the Union via a single telephone number and an Internet site.

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The service provides answers to questions not only on mobility, but also on any other matter related to Europe. An average of 11,000 people use it each month.

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Unlike Helene, who arrived in Vilnius very quickly, Liz and Michael Gorman took their time moving to the small village of Peja in western Cyprus.

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Liz retired from her job as a physiotherapist two years ago.

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Michael is a retired teacher. He's been a figurative painting enthusiast for 40 years.

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After visiting France and Spain in search of a house, in the end they decided on the Mediterranean island.

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As a painter, I've always liked the Mediterranean. I like the light, I like the scenery, and it seemed a logical thing to do.

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Life in Cyprus is calm for the couple. Michael is working on an exhibition while Liz updates her husband's book of press cuttings.

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She acts as his manager.

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I try to promote Michael's work and try and make sure that it's exhibited at various galleries.

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Liz has plans for putting together an exhibition of Michael's works in several European countries. She, too, turns to Europe Direct.

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Hello. I wonder if you could give me information about funding for a European grant for a painting exhibition in Europe.

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The answer is not long in coming.

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There is a funding program, Culture 2000, because the European Union doesn't provide the financial support directly to entrepreneurs or business.

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Yes, yes, it's Culture Program 2000. I can give you the information regarding Cyprus.

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There is a Culture contact point directly in Cyprus, and they will help you and they will give you advice because they should promote, actually, this program.

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The telephone is not the only way of reaching Europe Direct.

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You're welcome. Bye-bye.

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The user-friendly service also works by e-mail and Internet chats.

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Marcia is in the midst of a web assistance session with Matthias in Budapest.

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Matthias knows that his Hungarian degree is recognized in Germany, but what about Switzerland or Austria, where he'd also like to work?

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After a bit of searching in her database, Marcia gives Matthias the address of the Internet site on the recognition of diplomas.

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Back to Lithuania.

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Helene has to see to another formality.

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She needs an identity photo to attach to her application for a work permit for Lithuania.

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It's very likely that she'll stay another six months in Vilnius.

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Michael, too, is in the midst of a photo session.

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He's looking for new landscapes to serve as background for some new paintings.

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This move to Cyprus was very welcome for him.

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Since arriving, Michael has already had two exhibitions.

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Now there's a show on at the moment where a group of us are showing, mainly Cypriot artists, with two British artists, myself and another guy.

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And I think it gives us a chance to integrate at a very good level, because art's international.

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And it's not to do with countries or nationalities in a narrow sense.

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Matthias is preparing to leave Budapest and the banks of the Danube.

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He takes a last cruise on the river for the memories.

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Matthias is going to miss the Hungarian capital.

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In her free time, Helene visits the old districts of Vilnius to indulge in the relaxed way of life of the Baltic region.

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She ends her day at the gym.

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A veritable globetrotter, Helene sees her presence in Vilnius as something extremely positive for herself.

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It's all a question of having an open mind.

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I get the chance to live in society, to get to know the culture, the people, for real.

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Travelling in the European Union and living in another country is a convincing human experience for each of our protagonists.

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More generally, mobility is indeed a reality for Europeans.

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An analysis of Europe Direct's data reveals that almost 30% of all questions concern mobility.

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If you have questions on mobility or on Europe, you can reach Europe Direct from any of the 25 member states using the free number 00800 678 91011.

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www.globalonenessproject.org