Work restrictions placed on new EU states

Home secretary John Reid announces restrictions on EU workers from Bulgaria and Romania

Tuesday, 24, Oct 2006 12:00

The government will restrict the rights of Bulgarians and Romanians to work in the UK when their countries become part of the European Union in January.

Home secretary John Reid today confirmed Britain would not be extending the "open-door" policy it offered to the ten countries that joined the EU in 2004.

Low-skilled workers will be restricted to existing schemes that allow only 20,000 permits each year to work in the agricultural and food processing sectors, although this will be subject to an annual review.

The situation of skilled workers will remain as it is now – they can work if they get a permit or qualify under the highly skilled migrant programme, which has only 100 places. Students will also be able to study and take part-time jobs, provided they have a permit.

All EU citizens have the right to travel freely around the union and the self-employed are allowed to work wherever they want, but governments can restrict the working rights of citizens of new countries for up to seven years after they join.

In 2004, Britain was one of only three countries to open its doors fully to the new EU countries, and the government maintains they have benefited the economy.

However, ministers predicted about 30,000 people would take advantage of the opportunities offered, but 600,000 did so – raising concerns about the impact on public services and fears that the cheap labour they provided was driving down wages.

Today Mr Reid responded to these concerns by promising an extra £400,000 to help schools cope with an influx of non-English speaking students, and a new initiative to help local authorities deal with pressure points on public services.

"We're a strong supporter of EU enlargement and overwhelming evidence shows that migration from the countries which joined the EU in 2004 has had a positive effect on our economy," said Home Office minister Liam Byrne.

"But we need to make progress on our immigration reforms and understand the transitional impacts from the last round of accession before we take the next step.

"That is why we have decided to take a gradual approach this time round, taking account of the needs of our labour market, the impact of EU expansion and the positions adopted by other member states."

Opposition parties and business groups have raised questions about how the new system, which is far more complicated than that introduced in 2004, would be policed, and Mr Reid admitted to MPs this morning that it did "present some challenges".

But he warned that he hoped to pass laws making it an offence for a Bulgarian or Romanian to work without a permit, punishable by an on-the-spot fine for the individual and a heavy fine for the firm that employed them.

The government would set up a helpline for businesses to make sure they understood the rules, he added, saying: "Employing illegal workers undercuts legitimate business and leads to exploitation. It will not be tolerated."

At the same time, Mr Reid announced that all permit schemes for low-skilled workers from outside the European Union would be phased out.