ECAS supports the Commission’s recommendations for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania on 1 January 2007.

Tony Venables, ECAS Director, said today:
“ The EU should impose conditions on the new entrants to encourage the fight against corruption, a fully independent judiciary and a modern administration. But EU policy towards the governments should not spill over in new restrictions on European citizenship free movement rights. By all means be tough on the governments but welcome the new European citizens, particularly in this year of workers’ mobility.”

The ECAS report “Who’s still afraid of EU enlargement?” published this month warned that predictions on the impact of the two new members on free movement were hazardous. What is clear from the report is that many of those who want to exercise their free movement rights have already done so with Italy, Spain and Greece as prime destinations. If the current established pattern of migration continues and there is little impact from 1 January 2007, the scaremongering about a flood of job seekers will turn out to be wrong.

ECAS urges governments not to resort to the transitional arrangements and work permit schemes which cannot stop free movement, as a basic EU citizen’s right, but which tend to drive the problem underground and encourage the black market. The governments of the three countries previously mentioned, which are traditional destinations for Romanians and Bulgarians, have recently got rid of transitional arrangements. There is now a majority of old member states which have opened their labour market. If the Southern European countries maintain an open door policy, there is a chance that those in the North will do the same, but the reverse is also true.

ECAS recommends:
1. National governments and the European Commission should monitor the situation and publish reliable statistics on free movement from the new member states. Our report found that it is particularly in the countries which are main destinations for Romanians and Bulgarians that data are lacking or out-of-date. An informed debate can only occur with up-to-date data people trust.
2. As Mario Monti, ECAS Chairman, told MEPs in Strasbourg on 5 September:
“ There is evidence from the past two years to avoid the step backwards of transitional arrangements, based often on predictions which turn out to be wrong on both sides –one has to say. Instead, member states should monitor what happens after accession and if necessary make use of the safeguard clause in case of disturbance of their labour market, which provides indeed a better protection which is fact-based protection rather than ex-ante measures based on predictive guesswork.”
3. Labour inspections should be intensified in order to avoid exploitation and unequal treatment of migrants. The European Union guarantees equal pay for equal work and the equality of employment related conditions for everyone. Trade unions should be involved in the protection of rights of both native and migrant workers posted to or employed by domestic employers.
4. Circular migration should be facilitated, so that migrants are better informed of their European rights before departure, receive advice and help with integration in the host society and how to use their skills acquired back home. EU structural funds which Romania and Bulgaria will start to absorb can help to manage and coordinate policies for cross-border and short-term free movement of people.