Brussels, 06/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - The full opening of member states' labour markets to Romanian and Bulgarian workers on 1 January has again created a stir both in the United Kingdom, where Prime Minister David Cameron has adopted a very firm position, and in Germany, where the issue provoked the first controversy of the new broad coalition government.
In an interview with the BBC at the weekend, Cameron clarified what he intended his intentions and announced that, in the long-term, “quotas” on European immigrants could possibly be imposed and that consideration would be given to suspending family allowances paid to migrants when these allowances are then sent back to their countries of origin. The Conservative prime minister drew on Poland as an example and said that he did not think it “fair” that the family of a “hard-working” Polish worker should be allowed UK family allowance if it had stayed behind in Poland.
Cameron's remarks did not go down too well with Rados³aw Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister. Speaking Twitter on Monday 6 January, the minister said that neither should Polish taxpayers in the United Kingdom be expected to subsidise benefits paid to British children.
In response to Cameron's suggestion that he would propose that his European counterparts change the treaties in order to incorporate these new restrictions on migrants (before the promised referendum in 2017 on relations with the EU if he is re-elected), Sikorski indicated that his country would veto any amendments to the treaties should they be mooted.
In Germany, the subject of Bulgarian and Romanian migrants also inflamed the first “crisis” of the broad CDU/SPD in power. Angela Merkel's Bavarian ally called for a tougher line to be adopted towards those guilty of fraud and, according to a report by AFP, coined the phrase “fraudsters get out now” for a new slogan.
The head of the SPD and Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said that “we don't need any sweeping discrimination against Bulgarians and Romanians” but did point out that “we should not ignore the problems some big German cities are having to face with poor migrants either”.
On Wednesday, the government will meet for the first time this year in cabinet to discuss the subject objectively, the Vice Chancellor also said. He also said that he and Merkel had spoken on the phone and had agreed on a number of possible harsher measures against those guilty of benefit fraud.
The European commissioner for employment, Laszlo Andor, launched another warning on Saturday in an interview with Die Welt newspaper against any form of hysteria in this debate and asserted that “it is absolutely imperative that we defend fundamental rights such as free movement and do not respond in an hysterical way to the issue of immigration”.
Speaking in Brussels on Monday 6 January, his spokesman, Jonathan Todd, also indicated that, at this stage, the press had not reported any massive arrival of Romanian and Bulgarian workers.
The controversy on free movement and the removal of the last remaining restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians on the labour market in nine member states on 1 January last (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands) began last spring with Germany, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. In a joint letter to the Commission, they requested and obtained a debate on the abuses by immigrants from eastern European countries. Nonetheless, no figures have as yet been provided to the European Commission on the issue of this alleged abuse. Asked about the subject, on the sidelines of the most recent European Council, Cameron, himself, recognised that there were no available statistics. (SP/transl.fl)