EU executive sees 3 mln migrants by 2017, likely to boost economy

By Jan Strupczewski BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission expects some 3 million asylum seekers to arrive in the European Union by 2017, who would boost the EU's economic output and even improve public finances in the longer-term if integrated into the workforce. In its economic forecasts for the 28-nation bloc on Thursday, the EU executive arm assumed for the purpose of its simulation that 1 million asylum seekers would arrive in the EU this year, another 1.5 million in 2016 and half a m