Brussels, 05/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - Whether it be the British press or recent statements from British Prime Minister David Cameron, concern seems to have emerged in the United Kingdom about an expected or feared massive wave of Bulgarian and Romanian migrants who will have access to the British labour market as of 1 January 2014. A report commissioned by the British government and published on 4 April shows, however, that this fear is very likely exaggerated.
The United Kingdom is certainly a country that could attract Romanian and Bulgarian migrants. This is a logical conclusion, which the report draws from a quick overview of the social and economic situation in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Will 2014 therefore begin with a flood of citizens from the two most recent members of the EU trying to set up home in the United Kingdom? It is quite simply “impossible to predict”, the report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) states.
Thus, in the absence of a comprehensive vision of the consequences of lifting restrictions on work permits, the report calls for the greatest caution when speaking of the risk of mass immigration and its consequences for the British people. The reason is that “available evidence suggests that the UK is not a favoured destination for Bulgarians and Romanians who are considering migration as a future option”. In the past, immigration from Eastern Europe has been of a temporary nature and has dispersed, which has considerably reduced the impact on the British National Health System, and its national education and social protection systems. The report predicts that it will probably be the same in 2014. (JK/transl.fl)