Bulgaria Pushes for Unfettered Job Rights in EP

Ten EU member states have kept job restrictions on citizens of the countries that joined the EU in 2007. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria will renew its calls for an open door labor market in the ten older member states that still impose restrictions for job-seekers from the country and its northern neighbor Romania during a special forum at the European Parliament on Thursday.

Bulgarian MEP Iliana Ivanova, one of the most vocal fighters for the cause, claims that the lifting of the restrictions will be good for the recovery of the common European market.

According to her the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are the countries with the most firm position on the issue.

"It seems that the Netherlands and the UK are most determined to keep up the restrictions, which is not the case with the other countries. The economic reasons for lifting the restrictions are clear, there remains for us to overcome just the political opposition," Iliana Ivanova commented.

Bulgarian football legend Hristo Stoichkov is expected to join the forum in Brussels and speak up against the existing job restrictions for Bulgarian workers in the EU.

Currently, ten EU member states have kept job restrictions on citizens of the Bulgaria and Romania: The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, the UK and Malta.

Bulgarian politicians have repeatedly said they do not expect all countries to lift the restrictions to their labor markets simultaneously, but their aim is to draw the public attention to the issue and pile up pressure on these countries to take this important step prior to 2012.

The restrictions can be kept for another two years, until 2014, if the countries present evidence to back up their claims that the Bulgarian and Romanian job-seekers are a burden for their labor markets.

The European Commission and the European Parliament can only recommend to the member states to open their labor markets for Bulgarians and Romanians, but it is up to the countries themselves to take the final decision.

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