France to Decide on Opening Labor Market for Bulgarians, Romanians

Bulgaria in EU | August 22, 2012, Wednesday // 10:58|  views

A picture dated August 19 2010, of Romanian Roma arriving at Bucharest Airport, Romania, after having accepted voluntary repatriation from France. EPA/BGNES

France's Cabinet will gather on Wednesday to discuss whether the country should lift labor restrictions for Bulgarian and Romanian workers.

The meeting was scheduled after President Francois Hollande and his Interior Minister Manuel Valls received criticism this summer for sanctioning the dismantling of several Roma camps and repatriating hundreds of their residents to Bulgaria and Romania.

On Tuesday, the Council of Europe urged France to "go beyond short-term measures" for its Roma population.

"Wednesday's meeting announced by the French government on Roma is a welcome step towards finding long-lasting solutions," Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said in a statement.

Last week, French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said that giving work rights to the Roma, who usually inhabit illegal makeshift camps, "could be one of the solutions" to the migrant community.

Critics have argued that France-based Roma are subject to deportation because they cannot demonstrate that they are able to support themselves but, at the same time, they cannot seek work legally.

France, as well as all other EU countries, must lift labor market restrictions for Bulgarian and Romanian citizens by January 1, 2014, as the two countries' EU accession treaties provide.

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Tags: Roma, work restrictions, Romania, Bulgaria, France, Manuel Valls, French Interior Minister, labor market

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