'Old' Europe dropping opposition to new EU workers

Germany and Austria are likely to remain among the last "old" EU member states to apply next year for an extension of the temporary provision to ban workers from central and eastern Europe, five years after their entry in the bloc on 1 May 2004.

The restrictions against jobseekers from eight post-communist states are still currently deployed by Germany, Austria, Denmark, France and Belgium. In 2006, the five countries made use of the option of prolonging the original labour market cons...