The last barriers to access the labor market for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens fell on January 1. Until then, using the maximum transition period negotiated in the membership treaty for these two countries, 9 Member States – Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, the UK, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands – had kept limited access. The transition period was introduced by governments that feared an ‘invasion’ and rejection from the public opinion. 7 years later, heads haven’t cooled down and the political context has even made the debate worse, especially in Germany and the UK, where this issue is still controversial one week later. In the former, to try to calm things down, the ‘black and red’ administration has decided to introduce a “Secretary of State Committee” designed to assess the need to adopt more severe measures to combat so-called frauds committed by EU citizens on welfare and, where appropriate, to define them.
Even though they have been European citizens since 2007, Romanians and Bulgarians – as well as the citizens of the 8 other countries – haven’t been enjoying all of their rights. Already afraid at the time of massive immigration waves increasing pressure on pay and welfare abuses, the 17 Member States imposed transition periods of up to 7 years before completely opening access to their labor market. 9 Member States – Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, the UK, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands – used their entire prerogative. On January 1, 2014, spirits weren’t more prepared than they were in 2007 and the political context is even less favorable.
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