Swedish parliament rejects labor market restrictions on new EU citizens

"I feel extremely good. We can now tell the new citizens of the EU: you are welcome," said Maud Olofsson, head of Sweden's centrist party. A broad consensus of parties voted against the introduction of a transition period for new EU members, although Ulla Hoffman, a left-wing deputy, expressed her hope that workers from Central and Eastern Europe would not consider moving to Sweden simply to exploit the country's social benefits system. Defending the government's stance, Immigration Minister Barbro Holmberg said, "Social benefits for those working in Sweden are not a problem. It is rather the matter of their amount, which in the case of a three-child family exceeds regular wages in the accessing countries." (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, A7) M.M.