Brussels, 16/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - All EU member states should lift labour market barriers to Bulgarians and Romanians, said the European Parliament (EP) on Thursday 15 December, arguing that there are no real economic justifications for restricting their fundamental right to work and reside in any EU member state.
With its adoption of the resolution tabled by the EPP, S&D, ALDE and Greens/EFA Groups, the EP calls on all member states to abolish all transitional measures so as to allow Bulgarian and Romanian workers onto their labour markets. This reiterates the call made in a resolution on 25 October on workers' mobility in the EU. Member states may extend the transitional measures - a period when freedom of movement is restricted - by a further two years, that is, until December 2013, only if they notify the Commission, by 31 December 2011, of a “serious threat” to their labour markets.
MEPs say no negative effects have been reported in those member states that have allowed workers from the countries which joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 onto their labour markets. Nevertheless, a number of member states have decided to continue applying restrictions to Romanian and Bulgarian workers, due more to political pressures than to any justified fear of negative effects on their economies or labour markets, says the resolution. A Commission report of 11 November 2011, found, on the contrary, that workers from Romania and Bulgaria have had a positive impact on the economies of those member states that have allowed them in to work. At the end of 2010, workers from Bulgaria and Romania residing in another EU country represented 0.6% of the total EU population.
Parliament asks the European Commission to propose a clear definition of the “serious disturbances of labour markets” required to justify restrictions. Member states which maintain restrictions without “a clear and transparent socio-economic justification of a serious labour market disturbance” are in breach of the treaties, MEPs say, calling on the Commission to ensure compliance with the principle of free movement. Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg Malta, the Netherlands and United Kingdom all still restrict the access of Bulgarian and Romanian workers to their labour markets. Spain is also restricting Romanian workers' access, with the Commission's approval, until 31 December 2012, due to serious disturbances on its labour market. (LC/transl.rt)