Brussels, 14/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - Bulgarian and Romanian workers established in another EU state make a positive contribution to the economy of the host country, it is stated in a European Commission report published on Friday 11 November. After the call made by the European Parliament on 25 October 2011 for the European labour market to be opened up to Bulgarian and Romanian citizens by the end of the year (see EUROPE 10482), the Commission took up the plea. With this report, it calls for an end to the transitional measures applied to these states after they joined the EU in 2005. Above all, it considers that the transitional provisions have had a very limited effect on migratory flows. Other factors, such as language or the availability of jobs, have had a far greater effect on worker mobility.
The report indeed states that, in the wake of accession, the emigration of Bulgarian and Romanian workers could have had an adverse social and economic effect on host countries as well as on the workers' home countries, but these effects would be temporary and, it is estimated, the contribution made by those workers to the EU's GDP in the long term would be close to 0.3%. Several reasons were given for this: - migrants have different skills to put forward, and fill posts vacant or posts in sectors where there is a labour shortage (e.g. construction, domestic services and catering). All these reasons prompted Commissioner Laszlo Andor, responsible for employment, social affairs and inclusion, to say after a conference in Vienna on Friday 11 November that “moving between countries offers real opportunities and economic benefits for both the host countries and the EU as a whole”, which points to the fact that “restricting the free movement of workers in Europe is not the answer to high unemployment”. Currently, Bulgarian and Romanian citizens have full access to the labour market in only 14 EU member states. (JK/transl.jl)