Bulgarians and Romanians excluded again?

[Wanderer]

Just caught a bit of on the news in the car, that the moratorium on work for the aforesaid is to extended by 12 months.

I think it's great, too many EasterN EU folks heading here, we're gonna sink!

On the other hand it's totally unfair, against the concept of the EU, which on the whole I think 'is a good thing..'

Also the scaremonger on the news are talking about another 20 mill folks in the UK to fuel the economy. Just like Blade Runner....

Where is the off-World..

[avjones]

I think the trouble has been that so many other EU countries opted out of hte free movement idea in relation to new members, incl. Poland etc.

[Docterror]

I think the trouble has been that so many other EU countries opted out of hte free movement idea in relation to new members, incl. Poland etc.

Not the free movement idea, but the free labour market idea.

[thirdwave]

I think the trouble has been that so many other EU countries opted out of hte free movement idea in relation to new members, incl. Poland etc.

Av, I think unskilled migrants would still flock here even if other EU countries lift restrictions now. Individuals on the minimum wage can definitely save more in the UK than in other EU countries due to the strong pound, cost of food & other essentials being marginally cheaper when compared to parts of the continent(relative to one's earnings), good availability of cheap & crappy accomodation (even if it means cramming 10 people into a 3 bed terrace) & the presence of already well established immigrant communities throughout the country

[johnsienk]

<original post deleted>

[Fairtrade]

Just one question.

How many Brits go live in Poland?

I know there are large amounts of Brits in Spain, France, New Zealand etc hence nobody can really complain about these nationalities.....

[John]

On the other hand it's totally unfair, against the concept of the EU, which on the whole I think 'is a good thing..'

Why against the concept of the EU? It is specifically provided for in the Accession Treaty, a treaty that allows for a transitional period of adjustment.

So whereas for the A8 countries, where the UK relaxed from the position it could have taken in the A8 Accession Treaty, unlike Germany, France etc, which still require A8 nationals to have WPs, the UK is for the A2 nationals merely retaining the same position as Germany, France etc..

But one thing is certain ..... the transitional provisions will run out ... with the mere passage of time!

[petkanov]

As a Bulgarian living in the UK, I can assure you that they extended the restrictions due to pressure from the SUN and other foreign owned newspapers. Less than 10000 thousands Bulgarians came to the UK in 2007, less than 40% from 2006. On the other hand we have around 30-40000 brits that moved to Bulgaria and thus inflating house prices. Now you do the math:

10000 Bulgarians in UK - 50 millions population in UK
30000 British in Bulgaria - 7-8 million population of Bulgaria.

Now for the restrictions- they are not working. Every Bulgarian can move to the UK and live here, and also work as a self employed. So, if lets say the husband is self employed, then the wife can be legally employed. After 12 months of employement for the wife, she receives unlimited access to the UK labor market along with the husband and other dependants. This is in the EU treaty. The fact is that most bulgarians dont consider Britain as a good place to live and head to Spain, ITaly and more southern mentality nations. I as well am planning to move from the UK, and I have unrestricted access to the labor market, a job that pays above average. Sorry to all british, you may restrict our access thinking and hoping that we all dream of Britain, but even if there were not restrictions not many people would come, as Britain is not viewed as a good place to raise a family. By the way we have unlimited access to Sweden and Finland and other nations, but very few Bulgarians took the offer.

[goldfish]

>>I think the trouble has been that so many other EU countries opted out of hte free movement idea in relation to new members, incl. Poland etc.

You need to know that most of the EU15 have now opened up the labour market to the 2004 entrants. The most notable exception are Germany, France and Austria, but even they will have to open their markets in little over 3 years (per EU law). It is funny how the Brits are complaining about the Poles, while they are not bothered by the French, Kiwis, Americans and whatnot, in a situation where these groups of immigrants are almost as large as the Poles--a fact conveniently overlooked in the tabloid press.

5% of the population in Australia is British. So I think some migration in the other direction is not unreasonable.

[johnsienk]

<original post deleted>

[Fairtrade]

Among 713,000 foreigners who came to work in Britain last year, as measured by grants of national insurance numbers, the leading nationalities were Poles (223,000), Indians (49,000), Slovakians (29,000), Pakistanis (25,000) and Australians (24,000).


See: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... imm104.xml


So according to statistics for last year alone the Poles outnumber the top 5 nationalities put together applying to work in the UK.

[geoffsinclair]

On the other hand it's totally unfair, against the concept of the EU, which on the whole I think 'is a good thing..'

Why against the concept of the EU? It is specifically provided for in the Accession Treaty, a treaty that allows for a transitional period of adjustment.

So whereas for the A8 countries, where the UK relaxed from the position it could have taken in the A8 Accession Treaty, unlike Germany, France etc, which still require A8 nationals to have WPs, the UK is for the A2 nationals merely retaining the same position as Germany, France etc..

But one thing is certain ..... the transitional provisions will run out ... with the mere passage of time!

It is true, time will run out on EU states that have imposed restrictions on A2 countries, but during that time they are hoping that other EU states would have opened up their borders. Austria has pledged to remove restrictions in 2008 and other countries will follow suit. The problem is that places like Finland which welcomed A2 countries cannot attract labour in the same way that the British economy can. Britain has a history of importing cheap labour, a foreign worker will stand out in Finland and in other similar places. Britain opened up the shop in 2004 and now has more than enough cheap labour. It will probably keep the A2 countries out at least a year after general elections are constitutionally due in 2010.