Brussels, 06/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - As expected, Commissioner Vladimir Spindla will, on 8 February, present the European Commission's factual report on the transitional restrictive arrangements on the free movement of workers from the new Member States (see EUROPE 9112). In the report, the Commission recommends fully opening labour markets to nationals from the East, and points to the fact that the enlargement of the EU from fifteen to twenty five Member States has not brought negative consequences to EU-15 labour markets. It looks at the situation in the three countries which did not impose any restrictions on the entry into their labour markets of workers from the new Member States - the United Kingdom, Ireland and Sweden - where the labour market has in fact become more successful, with a reduction in unemployment and an increase in the rate of employment.
The Commission points out that the free movement of persons is one of the basic liberties guaranteed by Community law, and that this includes the right to live and work in another member country. In its report, the Commission stresses the following conclusions: 1) migration between EU-10 and EU-15 has been limited and not sufficient to affect the labour market; 2) the percentage of EU-10 nationals residing in EU-15 was relatively stable before and after enlargement; 3) there is no evidence of a direct link between the magnitude of mobility flows from EU-10 and the transition arrangements in place in the majority of old Member States; 4) the employment rate of EU-10 nationals in EU-15 Member States is similar to that of country nationals, and it is even slightly higher in Ireland, Spain and the UK. The Commission calls on Member States to put the necessary administrative arrangements in place to collect the required data on a national level and to provide these in a timely manner to the Commission. It intends to ask in future that Member States report annually on mobility flows relating to workers from within the EU. The Commission urges Member States, when preparing and issuing the notification of their intentions for the second phase, to gradually reduce restrictions on the entry of workers into the labour market from 1st May 2006, and to take account not only of the statistical evidence but also to address an overall positive message to their citizens as to the prospects of free movement across the EU.