The executive branch of the European Union published a special report in Brussels analyzing the state of national labor markets in the EU "veteran" countries that opened their doors to labor from the "newcomer" states of this regional organization.
The free movement of labor migrants from the countries of Eastern and Central Europe that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 did not lead to an increase in unemployment or a decrease in wages in the older member states, said EU Employment Commissioner Vladimir Špidla in this regard. On the contrary, according to him, "globally it had a rather positive impact." Špidla reported that after the last two rounds of EU enlargement, a smaller influx of labor was registered from the new members than from third countries. Migration flows into the EU began with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the commissioner said.
According to the European Commission, after the EU enlargement in 2004, 1.1 million people from the "newcomer" countries arrived in Western Europe for work, mainly Poles, Lithuanians, and Slovaks, who found jobs in the UK and Ireland. After Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007, 1.6 million people left these countries for the West in search of work, choosing mainly Spain and Italy as their place of employment.
At the same time, the European Commission notes that the inflow of labor from the new EU members was smaller compared to when Portugal and Ireland joined the organization. For example, after joining the EU, 2% of Lithuanians, 3% of Cypriots, 2.5% of Romanians, and 2% of Poles left their countries in search of work (compared to 9% of Portuguese and 8.2% of Irish). In this regard, EU Commissioner Špidla again called on EU members that still maintain restrictions on the inflow of labor from "newcomer" countries to abandon this practice as soon as possible.
The first in the EU to lift restrictions on the inflow of labor migrants from Eastern and Central European countries were the UK, Ireland, and Sweden. Restrictions remain in place in Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Denmark, as well as in all 15 former EU member states with regard to Bulgaria and Romania.
As RIA Novosti notes, in accordance with EU accession treaties, the limits on the influx of labor from countries that joined the organization in 2004 must be fully lifted by 2011, and for Bulgaria and Romania, which joined in 2007, by 2013.