Merkel Interrupts Holiday to Calm Immigration Row

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced plans for a government committee to look at possible measures to curb the so-called “benefit tourism.”

Merkel has interrupted her holiday to discuss immigration with Sigmar Gabriel, leader of the center-left Social Democrats, the Financial Times informs.

Merkel spokesman Georg Streiter has explained that the planned committee of senior officials would examine whether and how government departments could take action against abuses of welfare benefits by EU migrants.

The Chancellor’s intervention came after MEP Elmar Brok from her Christian Democrat party controversially called on politicians to consider having immigrants fingerprinted if they tried to make improper benefit claims.

Germany's governing coalition is having a stormy debate over calls to toughen social welfare laws as the European labor markets open to Romanians and Bulgarians.

On January 1, Romanians and Bulgarians received the right to work freely in all EU member states, seven years after joining the bloc.

Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Spain and the UK are no longer allowed to bar citizens from the two countries from coming to work.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!