MEPs Call For Easing Of EU Labour Restrictions

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

10 April 2006

The European Parliament has called for an end to the transitional measures restricting access to workers from eight 'new' Member States to labour markets in several 'old' Member States.

Countries with restrictions in place have until 1 May 2006 to decide on whether to lift them or to extend them until 2009.

In an own-initiative report by Csaba Ory, adopted by the European Parliament, MEPs called on Member States "to abolish the transitional measures in force, given that there are no signs of strain on the labour markets of the Member States which have opted for openness without restrictions and that the fears of massive migration have proved groundless".

MEPs suggested that those Member States that opt to extend the transitional measures should do so on the basis of an in-depth analysis of the threat to their labour market from each individual new Member State and asked them to create, during the next stage (2006-2009), the conditions to ensure that the transitional arrangements are not continued beyond 2009.

MEPs argued that the free movement of workers is one of the four fundamental freedoms of the EC Treaty, and that there are no signs of strain on the labour markets of those Member States which have opened their doors; fears of massive migration have proved groundless and there have been beneficial effects for the economies concerned.

The European Parliament members went on to note that some long-term residents from non-EU countries are in a more favourable position than citizens of the Member States which joined the EU in 2004 (as a result of Directive 2003/109/EC concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents)

The Parliament has therefore called on the Member States to enforce the status quo clause and preference rule in the Accession Treaty whereby, when a post is vacant, nationals of the new Member States have priority over third-country nationals.

The 'status quo clause' also states that workers from the new Member States should not face greater restrictions than applied before the accession treaties were signed.

MEPs finally called on the Commission to institute proceedings under Article 226 of the EC Treaty without delay should any Member State fail to fulfil its obligations under Articles 12, 39, and 42 of the Treaty or the status quo clause of the Accession Treaty.

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