The best thing is to make sure there is a reason, and support for returning: people going abroad and bringing back knowledge and money can actually be quite beneficial. In India and China, tons of businesses are started by people returning home after some amount of time in the US, for instance.
In terms of being pleasant places to live, Italy and Portugal are lucky, but they need to fix some other things...
This is a good book detailing some of what needs fixing, although it's mostly "old hat" for anyone who lives in Italy: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008F86HBK/?tag=dedasys-20 so it may not be worth reading if you're Italian.
In terms of being pleasant places to live, Italy and Portugal are lucky, but they need to fix some other things...
This is a good book detailing some of what needs fixing, although it's mostly "old hat" for anyone who lives in Italy: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008F86HBK/?tag=dedasys-20 so it may not be worth reading if you're Italian.