Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-09-08-Speech-3-404"
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"en.20100908.18.3-404"2
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"Mr President, free movement of workers is a fundamental principle in the EU. Together with free movement of goods, services and capital, it is a pillar of the single market and it has contributed to making European integration a success.
There is also convincing evidence that nationals from the new Member States have had undeclared jobs due to the restrictions they face in accessing the labour market of the ‘old’ Member States. This is in line with the findings that mobility flows are mainly driven by factors related to supply and demand conditions and that restrictions to free movement of workers delay labour market adjustments.
The Commission does not intend to elaborate a specific study on the living and working conditions of the irregular labour force from Bulgaria and Romania or on its impact on the domestic labour markets, notably due to the lack of information and difficulties of collecting such data. However, the issue of ‘irregular workers’ from Bulgaria and Romania will be covered, as far as possible, in any analysis the Commission may develop in the future about the functioning of the transitional arrangements for Bulgaria and Romania if, as foreseen by the transitional arrangements, one of the two countries requests it. In addition, the Commission will continue to promote specific activities to combat undeclared work, in cooperation with the Member States.
The Commission understands that the fact that Bulgarian and Romanian workers still face restrictions can be perceived as discrimination.
I would like to stress that transitional arrangements in the area of free movement of workers were applied in the majority of previous enlargements. In addition, transitional arrangements apply, not only to Bulgarian and Romanian workers, but also to workers from eight of the ten Member States that joined the EU in 2004.
It is also worth pointing out that the current transitional arrangements offer more flexibility to Member States by allowing them to decide when to start applying EU law on free movement of workers during the seven-year-period in the light of the situation of their labour market (the previous transitional arrangements simply deferred the introduction of EU law on free movement of workers by a number of years).
However, discrimination perceived by Bulgarian and Romanian workers who cannot work freely in the ten Member States that still apply restrictions does not constitute discrimination in the legal sense of the term. Although Article 18 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union prohibits discrimination based on nationality, it does so subject to specific provisions contained in the other EU treaties. The transitional arrangements laid down in the Accession Treaty constitute such provisions.
Temporarily restricting labour market access to Bulgarian and Romanian workers on the basis of the transitional arrangements is therefore not contrary to EU law.
As you are well aware, for the first seven years of the EU membership of Bulgaria and Romania, Bulgarian and Romanian workers cannot fully benefit from free movement of workers. This is due to the transitional arrangements in place, as provided for by the Accession treaties, which allow the other Member States to delay the application of EU law on free movement to Bulgarian and Romanian workers for a maximum period of seven years.
When Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007, already 10 of the 25 Member States decided to open their labour markets to Bulgarian and Romanian workers. Today, this number has increased to 15 and only ten Member States continue to apply restrictions. It is worth noting that, among the ten Member States, several apply less strict conditions or procedures in comparison to those in place before Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU.
It is important to bear in mind that the decision as to whether to apply the transitional arrangements and restrict labour market access is the sole responsibility of the Member State concerned. The Commission does not have any formal role to play in ending the restrictions.
However, the Commission is, as a matter of principle, in favour of fully applying free movement of workers. In addition, the Commission has always worked to ensure that the Member States which apply restrictions do so in line with the conditions laid down in the Accession Treaty.
The Commission has also repeatedly stressed that the transitional arrangements are, by definition, temporary, and that Member States should gradually open their labour markets, instead of delaying the application of free movement of workers until the end of the seven-year period.
The 2006 and 2008 Commission reports on the functioning of the transitional arrangements show that labour mobility, following the 2004 and 2007 enlargements, has had a positive impact on the economy and has helped meet labour demand. These findings remain valid, even in the current economic crisis. The Commission will continue to encourage Member States to re-examine their position on labour market access, including by referring to the findings of the reports.
There is no detailed information as regards the number or social situation of irregular workers coming from the Member States that joined the EU recently. This is due precisely to the hidden character of their presence in the Member States concerned.
In the 2006 and 2008 reports, the Commission underlined that restrictions to free movement of workers do not necessarily result in protecting the national labour market and may delay labour market adjustments. What is more, transitional arrangements can exacerbate the incidence of undeclared work. It has been shown that enlargement has contributed to bringing to the surface part of the underground economy constituted by previously undeclared workers from the new Member States."@en1
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