Polish allowed to work in the Netherlands

Outgoing Deputy Minister for Social Affairs Henk van Hoof has announced that from next week Polish workers will be allowed to work in construction, transport, banking and at insurance companies and other service providers.

The measure comes as a surprise, as earlier this week a majority in parliament asked the government to exercise restraint in opening up the Dutch economy to workers from Poland and seven other countries that joined the EU in 2004.

Companies still have to apply for work permits for foreign workers, but are no longer obliged to first look for employees in the Netherlands. The rules had already been eased for 23 other sectors of the Dutch economy.

Source: Radio Netherlands, 15 December 2006