Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Greece might open up to new member state workers

Greece is likely to join Spain and Finland in opening labour markets to workers from new member states this May, with France and Belgium also planning to relax restrictions Polish daily Rzeczpospolita reported on Tuesday (24 January).

"The Greeks are signalling this, but knowing their character they will take the decision at the last minute," Slawomir Misiak, the spokesman for the Polish embassy in Athens stated.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Polish workers: popular in Greece (Photo: Polish tourist office)

Greek diplomats in Brussels declined to confirm or deny the report, but told EUobserver that a more likely scenario might be reducing the seven year-long period before restrictions automatically come down in 2011 or allowing selected professions only to come to Greece.

Rzeczpospolita also cites unnamed officials attending a Spanish-Polish meeting in Warsaw on Monday as saying Madrid will probably announce its official decision to open doors when prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz visits Spain in April.

The moves would mean Greece, Spain and Finland would join the UK, Ireland and Sweden, who opted not to impose any restrictions since enlargement on 1 May 2004.

Polish diaspora

Most Polish workers currently go to Germany, Polish news agency PAP reported, with 680,000 German work permits granted to Poles in 2004 and the first half of 2005.

About 170,000 Polish people are legally working in the UK, 70,000 in Ireland and 70,000 in the Netherlands, 35,000 in Norway, 5,000 in Iceland and just a few thousand in Sweden.

A recent poll in Ireland showed that 78 percent of Irish Times readers would like to turn back the clock and bar eastern Europeans.

Poles currently make up the largest expat group in Ireland, accounting for 3 percent of the population.

What about the rest?

Meanwhile, the French and Belgian ambassadors to Warsaw told Rzeczpospolita that their countries will probably lift restrictions fully in May 2009, but begin a gradual rollback this May.

French envoy Pierre Mena said new member state workers from the restaurant, hotel, plumbing and construction sectors might gain access to five regions in southern France this year.

And Belgium's Bruno Neve de Mevergnies indicated Brussels might open up to workers in the construction, steel and scientific research fields.

Such a move would mirror the Netherlands' approach, which allowed Polish construction workers in last December.

Germany and Austria have said they will keep the barriers up for now, while Portugal, Denmark and Italy seem likely to go down the same path.

Rzeczpospolita also says non-EU member Norway might open its doors to new member states in May this year.

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. "Swiftly dial back" interest rates, ECB told
  2. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  3. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  4. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  5. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  6. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating
  7. Syrian mayor in Germany speaks out against AfD
  8. Asian workers pay price for EU ship recycling

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us