Development & Aid, Economy & Trade, Europe, Headlines, Labour, Population

LABOUR-EU: Only A Few East Europeans Go West

Ann De Ron

BRUSSELS, Sep 17 2004 (IPS) - When Marek and his wife Ania, both unemployed Polish nationals in their thirties, left their home country for Denmark on May 1 – the day of EU enlargement – they hoped to get dream jobs and start on a new life.

But the Labour Office in Denmark thwarted their plans. Marek and Ania – not their real names – learnt the hard way how complicated it would be to get a work permit. So they headed for Britain.

Right after their arrival in London May 5 they went to the Job Centre, only to hear that they could not get an interview before May 18. They ran out of money and spent two nights on the streets. Finally they contacted the Polish Consulate in London, which lent them money to return home.

This is one of the testimonies in the report launched this week by the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS), an international non-profit organization. It gathered evidence over their hotline run over the summer months.

According to ECAS, the story of Marek and Ania is not an exception. ”The higher cost of living is a huge obstacle for potential migrant workers from new EU member states, and one that has often been overlooked,” says ECAS chief Tony Venables.

Contrary to some recent media reports, the influx from new member states since May 1 has been ”a trickle”, concludes the ECAS 32-page report titled ‘The Unfinished Enlargement’.

Although it agrees further research is necessary, ECAS feels the information given by the 600 to 700 individuals and by the consulates and travel companies that contacted the hotline during the summer, is a good indication.

The presentation of the ECAS report at an informal meeting at the European Parliament on Sep. 14 was attended by about 25 Members of Parliament from almost all factions, which is unusual for this type of a meeting, Jean Lambert told IPS. Lambert is the Green MEP who chaired the meeting in Strasbourg. ”MEPs were really impressed by the report,” she said.

The ECAS conclusion seems to confirm studies during the accession negotiations prior to enlargement, which showed that the impact would be slight.

”The Commission has not collected new data yet, but we have no reason to believe the predictions were wrong,” Antonia Mochan, spokesperson for outgoing European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs Stavros Dimas told IPS.

The ECAS statement is backed by researchers from the Centre for European Policy Studies, an independent research institute based in Brussels.

”Government data from Sweden and Britain prove that massive inflow did not take place,” research fellow Sergio Carrera told IPS. ”Data from Ireland do seem to indicate an increase, but we feel it is way too soon to draw conclusions from that since it might be mostly seasonal workers.”

Britain, Ireland and Sweden are the only old EU member states that did not make ‘transitional arrangements’ for free movement of workers from all new member states except Malta and Cyprus. These measures allow individual states to limit access to their labour markets to a certain extent during the first two years and possibly up to five years after EU enlargement.

In view of the fact that people from new EU member states are not rushing to Western Europe in search of greener pastures, the ECAS report finds these transitional measures ”not justified”.

ECAS recommends the European institutions to phase out the transitional measures within two years, except for limited border regions.

”But to take that decision, we would need to look also at other factors, like the labour market in a particular country or the number of people entering from Third World countries or other member states;” says Mochan.

ECAS however feels the measures are giving rise to discriminatory and illegal treatment of citizens from new member states.

”They are only meant for workers, but they tend to spill over,” says Venables. He gives the example of a Polish entrepreneur who wanted to go and live with his wife and son in Germany. He was told by the competent German authority that his family may not reside in Germany unless they work there, which contradicts transitional measures agreed.

The ECAS report wants the Commission to put an end to cases like this. It also recommends the launch of an information campaign to inform new EU citizens and officials. It pleads for keeping commercial employment agencies under control.

The report also pleads for a new research program coordinated by the Commission and a firm deadline for the extension of the Schengen zone by 2007.

The name ‘Schengen’ originates from a small town in Luxembourg where seven European Union countries signed a treaty in June 1985 to end internal border checkpoints and controls. More countries have joined the treaty over the past years.

At present, there are 15 Schengen countries, all in Europe: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. All these countries except Norway and Iceland are European Union members.

ECAS also feels that the European parliament should organise a public hearing of representatives of national governments, social partners, experts and non-governmental organisations. That hearing should examine whether the restriction on free movement of workers in the enlarged union is justified.

According to Jean Lambert, there was a willingness among MEPs present at the meeting in the European Parliament this week to organise such a hearing next year.