During a meeting with French President Jacques Chirac in the margins of the 10 March 2006 Employment Council, Hungary's President Laszlo Solyom asked for restrictions on workers from Poland, the Baltic countries, the Czech and the Slovak Republics, Hungary and Slovenia to be lifted by France. "We talked about the fact that new member states do not accept being treated as second-class members," Mr. Solyom said after the meeting, adding: "We disagree with limitations to the free movement of workers."
During the Council meeting, Spain, Portugal and Finland announced that they will lift restrictions on workers' mobility currently in force, instead of extending them when they run out on 1 May 2006. While the Commission welcomed the announcement, other member states are reluctant to join in. Employment Commissioner Vladimir Špidla said: "On 1 May, we are taking a step towards more mobility of workers, which makes me quite happy." The Commissioner urged the EU-15 to take the results of the Commission's report on workers' mobility into account when deciding on extending the measures.
A spokesman for the French President said France was soon going to present its position, ahead of the 1 May moratorium. Germany and Austria made it clear that they will extend the measures for at least another three years; Belgium will do so but possibly for a shorter period. Other countries, including Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Greece, have avoided positioning themselves so far but will have to take a decision by 1 May 2006. Sweden, the UK and Ireland are the only countries which allowed entry to workers from Central Europe without restrictions immediately after their countries' joining the EU.
