No open-door policy for Bulgarian and Romanian workers in UK[fr][de] 

UK business leaders, on 19 August 2006, called on the government to curb the expected influx of migrant workers from Bulgaria and Romania. They fear that this could overstretch public services and put pressure on communities.

An opinion poll, published by the Sunday Times on 20 August 2006, indicated that 75% of UK citizens favour stricter rules on immigrant workers coming from Bulgaria and Romania, which are scheduled to enter the EU in 2007.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling told the BBC that the UK will not opt for an “open-door” policy for migrants coming from new EU member countries, as it did for those countries who joined in 2004. He said immigration needed to be “properly managed”.

This decision comes after the number of workers from the new member states has surged to more than 300,000, in sharp contrast with the expected 13,000 since 2004.

The UK’s Labour Minister Frank Filed asked to limit worker migration. He said the present migration rate had a negative impact on housing policy, on the healthcare system and on the “community’s image itself”.

Home Secretary John Reid believes that a hardening of public opinion on immigration is reinforcing the case for restrictions. 

Damian Green of the UK’s Conservative party accused the government of having underestimated the impact of migrant workers in the UK since 2004. He said “by controlling the numbers we can make life much better for everyone”.

Meanwhile, a study by the British Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) indicates that the number of workers from Bulgaria and Romania likely to migrate to the UK next year is much lower than figures might suggest. Catherine Drew of the IPPR said that the UK government’s statistics were “leaked” and that there was a lack of methodology behind them.

Susan Anderson of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said that “there is a strong argument to pause for a period before opening up to workers from further new member states while we learn the lessons from experience to date”. On the other hand, former CBI Director General Sir Digby Jones warned that heavy restrictions on immigration would harm the UK economy. In a Sunday Telegraph article he said that “Britain is wealthier because of immigration”.