Netherlands keeps borders closed to Bulgarians, Romanians
The Netherlands will not introduce free movement of labour for Bulgaria and Romania at the moment that these countries join the EU on 1 January 2007. It has opted for a transition regime that will in principle apply for two years.
The caretaker cabinet decided Friday that companies must continue to apply for a work permit for employees from Bulgaria and Romania. These permits are only issued if no employees are available in the Netherlands or the other EU member states and if the employer offers adequate labour conditions and accommodation.
Virtually all old EU member states are introducing a transition regime for Bulgaria and Romania. “This is an important reason for the cabinet not to introduce free movement of labour from these countries,” said Social Affairs Minister Henk van Hoof. “Also the prosperity differences with the old member states are so big that fully opening the border could lead to a big flood of Romanian and Bulgarian workers.”
In 2008, a year after the planned accession on 1 January, the cabinet will evaluate how labour migration is developing. “The policy can then perhaps be relaxed. Here, one could think of speedier issuing of permits in certain sectors, as also happened in recent months for employees from the eight Central and East European countries that joined the EU in 2004.”
Source: NIS News, ANP 24 November 2006
and i went...
