They will have to prove that they have skills in areas where the country faces a shortage of labor. Only if successful will Bulgarian and Romanian citizens be issued a certificate granting the right to obtain work in the UK.
British authorities are being forced to introduce a restrictive system by the flood of immigrants from eight Eastern European countries that have become EU members. For example, over the past two years, since the UK, Ireland, and Sweden opened their labor markets to citizens of these countries, 447,000 Eastern Europeans have officially arrived in the UK in search of work, significantly exceeding the expectations of the Home Office. This influx of foreign workers is negatively affecting the British economy, provoking rising inflation and unemployment.
"We hold a confident record for accepting immigrants from Eastern Europe, but sometimes political considerations dominate over economic expediency, and we see where it has led," commented one member of the British Cabinet on the situation.
Bulgaria and Romania, considered the poorest of the EU candidate countries, may be admitted to the organization on January 1, 2007. The Department for Work and Pensions has already noted a direct correlation between the economic situation of a new EU member state and the number of its citizens immediately heading to the UK in search of work. In this regard, the migration control group expects an influx of about 80,000 Bulgarians and 200,000 Romanians into Britain within the first year and a half after their countries join the EU.
By the way, unemployment in the UK itself has reached a four-year high. Currently, 957,000 people in the country are living on social benefits, reports Bloomberg. According to experts, the rise in unemployment is caused by the increase in migrants from Eastern Europe and mass layoffs of workers from British factories. The growth of the working-age population in the country is outpacing the creation of new jobs by companies. The number of unemployed in the country has been at 3% for five months.