FSB: Immigration plans put pressure on business

Tuesday, 24, Oct 2006 12:00

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has slammed plans to restrict the working rights of immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania when they join the EU.

Warning that small businesses would be under pressure the monitor the legal rights of workers, FSB national EU affairs chairman John Walker said it "makes no sense" to put up barriers to entry once accession had been agreed.

The proposals – which allow anyone from the two new member states to come to Britain but give few the right to work – would "create a mess and employers will be caught in the middle of it", he warned.

"Businesses will not accept being asked to become pseudo-immigration officers," he added.

"After treating the previous new entrants in one way, which was clear for all to deal with, the differing treatment for Bulgarian and Romanian workers is unfair to them and to small businesses."