Labor of love

A draft report obtained by Reuters indicated that workers from the CEE region were to gain most from the changes, if labor market restrictions were to be abolished. The current rules make it difficult for Europeans to work in foreign member states, particularly those in the West, who have opted to apply a transition period before opening their labor market.

"The Commission calls upon member states to consider whether they need to continue applying restrictions in the light of the situation on their labor markets," said the paper, drafted by EU Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla.

Only Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Germany, from the 15 former EU nations, still apply labor market restrictions to the eight ex-communist countries that joined the bloc in 2004.

The report shed some light on labor movement patterns where Poles, Latvians and Lithuanians chose to go to Britain and Ireland, while Bulgarians and Romanians to Spain and Italy. An academic study, quoted in the report, estimated that additional labor mobility after the EU enlargement had boosted the bloc's economic output by 0.17 percent. The 2007 expansion added a further 0.15 percent.

Source: Reuters