According to the Luxembourg newspaper «Tageblatt», the only country that has declared its readiness to open its borders to cheap labor from the ten states that will be admitted to the EU on May 1, 2004, is Ireland.
The governments of most current EU countries are inclined to impose restrictions on the free movement of cheap labor from partner states for a period of two years. Germany and Austria, which border these countries, may restrict the entry of labor migrants to the maximum. In Denmark, a law has been adopted that limits the issuance of work permits to foreign migrants for five years.
The Netherlands reserves the right to close its borders if by May 2005 the influx of job-seeking "new" Europeans exceeds 22,000 people. According to expert estimates, between five and ten thousand workers from new EU countries will arrive in the Netherlands within the next two years.
Meanwhile, despite the common intention to impose restrictions on labor migration, Germany, France, and Spain have already concluded bilateral agreements with Poland on quotas for labor from that country.