OLD EUROPE KEEPS DOOR CLOSED FOR ROMANIAN AND BULGARIAN WORKERS

Romanians and Bulgarians are still not seen as full-fledged citizens of the European Union. Many member states continue to keep them out of their job markets, particularly now the economy is in recession.

A large number of European countries, including the Netherlands, will not allow Romanians and Bulgarians access to their job markets for the time being, says a European Commission review published on earlier this month. The EU member states are worried about the loss of job opportunities and they are using the current financial crisis as an argument for protecting their job markets for longer than agreed. "First we have to protect jobs for our own workers," British immigration minister Phil Woolas said in a statement. read more (nrc.nl)

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January 26, 2009