Austria keeps it labor market firmly shut to new EU members until 2009

Austria is the second old EU member (after Germany), which says it will uphold the law allowing for the employment of foreigners only in cases where there are no candidates for a post from any of the old member states. "We tried to convince Austria that there is absolutely no threat of a massive inflow of Polish workers to that country. They seem to have made a political decision," said Janusz Grzyb, deputy director of the EU economic affairs department in the Economy Ministry. The government in Vienna explains that it has to protect its labor market over the next three years due to rising unemployment. The EU Commission wants to investigate in detail the situation on the labor market in all old EU member countries in order to provide recommendations concerning the transitional period. Unfortunately, Austria will not have to take these recommendations in account until 2009. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 18) A.F.