European Commission says free movement of workers since the 2004 enlargement had a positive impact

The European Commission published, February 8, 2006, its report on the effects of the flow of workers from Central and Eastern Europe to the labour markets of the fifteen old Member States. The arrival of this labour had "mostly positive effects" and was in most countries "quantitatively less important than foressen", the Commission underlines. (Ref. 06113)
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In its report on “the conducting of the transitional provisions” contained in the Accession Treaty of 2003, the Commission analyzes the effects of free movement of workers from new Member States (EU-10) and those of the restrictions on this freedom of movement set up by all the old Member States (EU-15), except for Great Britain, Ireland and Sweden. These restrictions, said “transitional arrangements”, were introduced into the Accession Treaty for a maximum period of seven years, divided into t

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