Экономические науки\13. Региональная
экономика
Larysa Yerysh, Olga Abrashka
Postgraduate student
Department of international economics
Donetsk
National University of Economics and Trade
named
after M. Tugan-Baranovsky
Free
movement of labour in the EU 27
In
an attempt to address the complex implications of the EU's 2004 and 2007
enlargements, several member states from the EU-15 introduced 'transitional
restrictions' on the movement of workers from the new member states.
Free
movement of labour is a fundamental right in the EU. Therefore, the curbs can
be maintained for a maximum of seven years - until May 2011 in the case of
workers from the eight countries that joined the Union in 2004, and until 2014
in the case of workers from Bulgaria and Romania.
With
most statistical evidence indicating that the economic impact has been positive
in the countries which chose not to maintain restrictions, a wider debate has
emerged as to whether the concerns that led some countries to put these
restrictions in place were unfounded.
Free
movement of persons is one of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by Community
law (Article 39 of the EC Treaty) and is also an essential element of European
citizenship.
Community
rules on the free movement of workers also apply to member states of the
European Economic Area (i.e. to Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). The
relevant rights are complemented by a system for the co-ordination of social
security schemes and by a system to ensure the mutual recognition of diplomas.
The
Accession Treaty allows for the introduction of 'transitional measures'.
Commonly referred to in EU circles as the '2+3+2-year arrangement', this scheme
obliged the member states to declare in May 2006, and again in May 2009,
whether they would open up their labour markets to workers from the EU-8
(Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and
Slovenia) or keep restrictions in place.
The
restrictions will definitely end on 30 April 2011. A similar '2+3+2' scheme is
in place with respect to workers from Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU
on 1 January 2007.
One
of the initial reports published by the European Commission in February 2006
said that very few citizens from the new member states were actually moving to
the EU-15 countries. According to the report, EU-10 citizens represented less
than 1% of the working age population in all old EU member states except
Austria (1.4%) and Ireland (3.8%).
Thus,
the predictions from some quarters of 'floods of immigrants' arriving in old
member states, a significant factor behind the original restrictions, have
turned out to be incorrect.
Opening
borders has only had positive economic effects, says Commission.
As a
matter of fact, a number of statements made throughout the 2008-2009 period by
EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities
Vladimír Špidla underlined that those who maintain restrictions on
the basis that opening borders will have a negative impact on national
economies are making a mistake.
According
to Špidla, the evidence from all the Commission's reports and studies is
that mobile workers from the countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 have
had a positive impact on member states' economies and have not led to serious
disturbances in their labour markets.
Such
findings have effectively debunked many of the concerns and, in some cases,
fears that arose in the 'old' EU 15 at the dawn of the enlargement era. For
example, as reported by EurActiv, the widespread myth in France of the 'Polish
plumber' – that is, that a flood of Eastern workers would severely destabilise
the country's labour market – has now been disproven as a "hoax of
political history" (EurActiv 22/10/09).
The
policies relating to the free movement of workers from the EU-8 within the
EU-15 states could be classified into four categories:
Those
keeping the restrictions in place after May 2009: Austria and Germany.
Those
who lifted the restrictions gradually, between 2006 and 2009: Belgium, Denmark,
France, Luxembourg, The Netherlands.
Those
keeping labour markets open / removing restrictions: Finland, Greece, Ireland,
Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.
With
respect to the 1 January 2007 enlargement, which brought Romania and Bulgaria
into the EU, many 'old' EU member states were more reluctant to open their
labour markets. All EU-15 countries, with the exception of Sweden and Finland,
decided to restrict Bulgarians' and Romanians' access to their labour market.
Italy
will consider allowing Romanians and Bulgarians in once a European agreement on
combating organised crime is found. France announced that it will include
workers from the two countries into its scheme of sectorial barrier-lifting.
All
the new EU-10 decided to open their labour markets - with the exception of
Malta, which constricts access, and of Hungary, which imposes some conditions.
Литература:
1. http://www.euractiv.com/en/socialeurope/free-movement-labour-eu-27/article-129648
2. http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=157
3. http://www.labour.org.uk/labour_in_europe