Free Movement of Labour in the EU
12 days after EU labour markets were liberalised, the feared inflow of Romanian and Bulgarian workers has not happened.
Valentin Țigău, 13.01.2014, 13:19
The full liberalisation of the European employment market for Romanian and Bulgarian workers on 1st January has not yet brought about higher demands for jobs in countries such as Germany and Britain, as some had predicted. This preliminary conclusion has eased some of the political tension around this subject.
In Berlin, the authorities are concerned about possible abuses by Romanian and Bulgarian migrants of the German welfare system. Despite the fact that this has not happened yet, the Christian Social Union has adopted a resolution by which people who abuse the welfare system must be expelled and prevented from ever returning to Germany. The German MEP Elmar Brok, a member of the German Democratic Union, even proposed fingerprinting the migrants, an idea harshly criticised by Romania and Bulgaria.
Britain has not seen an influx of east European workers either, following the liberalisation of 1st January, a fact also noted by the London press. The Romanian ambassador to Britain, Ioan Jinga, said in an interview to Radio Romania that while Romanian and Bulgarian citizens are now free to work legally in any European country, they also have the obligation to consider the advantages and risks of their choices.
Ioan Jinga: “I think the decision to work in another country must be based on a rational analysis, also taking into account factors such as the profession, the field in which the person wishes to work, employment opportunities, knowledge of the respective language, the family situation, the financial expectations and the costs of living abroad. Without such an analysis, there is a considerable risk that the new reality does not match expectations. There are cases when Romanians who came to Britain searching for work realise the job supply is not real or not what they expected. No country is an El Dorado. Everywhere you go you have to expect a lot of work and hardship, which means you have to be aware of the risks.”
On the other hand, as the Financial Times notes, the anti-migration rhetoric that has dominated the British media and political discourse over the past few months has alienated many Romanian students, who say they will never work in the UK. In fact, according to official data, 170,186 Romanians emigrated in 2012, which is the lowest figure in the last ten years, while a record number of 176,266 people have decided to return to their native country.
