For sake of clarification RO/BG scare campaign

[colinut]

Before wanting to write this I wasn't sure if there's even a need to respond to the current scare campaign in the media about the suposed Romanian and Bulgarian influx after 1st January 2014. The reason for that is because, in my opinion the panic is totally unfounded so might not be worth the fuss to discuss. But I see it coming back in the news over and over again over the past year or so.

 

So for the sake of clarification let me state some facts:

 

1. Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in January 2007.

 

2. The nationals of these two countries already enjoy the right to freedom of movement in the entire EU space and full access to the labour market in the following EU countries: Sweden, Ireland, Ialy, Finland, Danemark, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovac Republic, Slovenia, Hungary. To these add Norway and Iceland which are not EU and of course eachother (Romania and Bulgaria).

 

3. There are currently 9 countries which have imposed transitional restrictions for the labour market: Malta, Spain, Belgium, Luxemburg, France, Germany, Austria, Netherlands and the UK.

 

4. In the UK, Romanians and Bulgarians are already free to take full time employment in sectors such as construction and agriculture. All of them can also work as self employed in any domain/industry.

 

What will happen on the 1st of Jan 2014:

 

1. The transitional restrictions have to be lifted. They can only last 7 years maximum as agreed by all EU members, (including Britain) when the two countries joined the EU.

 

2. This means the Romanians and Bulgarians will be free to take unrestricted full time employment like they do in all the other countries I mentioned at point 2 in the first section of this post.

 

So to conclude, the difference is that Britain will allow them to work and pay their taxes and therefore benefit from the same rights all the other EU members provide each other.

 

You would have heard quotes such as "we open the gates to the Eastern Europeans", the "Romanians will invade" etc. Those that wanted to come and not work would have come already because the changes on 1st of Jan are irrelevant to them.

 

Personally I'm not afraid of people who want to work (regardless where they are from) but I'm afraid of those who don't (both immigrants and indigenous). If anything needs fixing, that is the British benefits system which encourages handouts over work.