EC to Probe New Dutch Rules for Bulgarians, Romanians

The European Commission plans to launch a probe into the initiative of the Dutch government to kick Bulgarian and Romanian workers out of the country's labor market.

"The European Commission will check whether the new rules proposed by the Netherlands for access to its labor market are in line with European legislation that ensures the free movement of people," Matthew Newman, spokesman for EU fundamental rights commissioner Viviane Reding told the Bulgarian National Radio.

Bulgarian and Romanian workers will be no longer welcome to the Dutch labor market should a proposal by Social Affairs Minister Henk Kamp be approved.

Starting July 1 2011, Bulgarians and Romanians as well as foreigners from outside the EU will only be granted a work permit in the Netherlands under "exceptional cases," as the Dutch parliament will reportedly back Kemp's proposal.

Earlier this month Totyu Mladenov, Bulgaria's Social Minister, sent a letter to his Dutch counterpart, Henk Kamp, disagreeing with the latter's initiative to severely restrict the access of Bulgarian workers to his country's labor market.

"I value the Netherlands' intention to guarantee the rights of its workers from other EU member states and sanction the violators according to the acting EU legislation as far as citizenship, non-discrimination and the right of free movement are concerned," Mladenov wrote.

"However, I would like to point out that, according to Bulgaria and Romania's EU accession treaty, the member states which have chosen to apply a transitional period for the Bulgarian workers' access to their labor market, should clearly distinguish between the access rights of non-EU citizens and citizens of those states they have applied the transitional period for," the Minister argued.

Mladenov underlined that EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Laszlo Andor, has stated that restricting the free movement of Bulgarians and Romanians harms the good functioning of the bloc's common market.

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