In recent years, the fast-growing Czech economy, led by the car industry, lured cheap labour mainly from Ukraine, Slovakia, Vietnam, Mongolia and Moldova. Around 290,000 foreign workers were registered in the country as of November last year, up 51,000 year-on-year, the interior ministry in Prague said.
Czech Interior Minister Ivan Langer said that he expected around 12,000 foreign workers to lose their jobs in the first quarter this year as a result of the economic downturn. The work permits of some 68,000 would expire during the first half of 2009.
Jean-Michel de Waele, professor of political science at the Free University of Brussels (ULB), told EurActiv that he saw a contradiction between Prague's haste to expel foreign workers and the recent Czech Presidency criticisms of France, which stands accused of protectionism (EurActiv 10/02/09).
"It is true that the crisis resuscitates deplorable reflexes. But at least the crisis allows us to see where we stand in the European construction. One thing is to rejoice at having at our disposal foreign workers when we need them, another thing is to want them to leave, because we are in crisis," said De Waele.
He added that this was not only a matter of economic downturn, but of "inward-looking societal phenomena". "In Britain, we already had social protests against hiring citizens of other EU countries. This is a very dangerous tendency," he warned.
In Spain too, those first hit by the crisis appear to be foreign workers, who have been returning home in droves, the international press reports.
De Waele strongly criticised the Czech Presidency for setting a bad example, but also for being "silent" on major issues. "It is amazing to see Europe confronted with the worst economic crisis in the last sixty years, and Europe remaining completely silent. We can judge Mr. Sarkozy in many different ways, but at least during his presidency, Europe was speaking," he said. He also placed the blame at the Commission's door, as "Mr. Barroso is on campaign for his re-election".
Despite its choice of colourful letters of the alphabet as its logo, De Waele labelled the Czech EU Presidency "colourless".
(With Reuters)
