Werkgroep brengt beperking in vrij verkeer werknemers uit Oost-Europa ter discussie (en)
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Why is this meeting taking place? This meeting is not provided for in the Accession Treaty, so was not obligatory. However, the European Commission wanted to give all of the Member States an opportunity to exchange information on how transitional arrangements have worked in each state.
What benefits will it bring? The meeting should bring more information to light so that Member States can make decisions on whether to maintain restrictions on a solid factual basis. The Commission would prefer this situation to prevail, rather than one where countries look only to their neighbours' actions to help them decide their own approach.
What are the next steps? The Commission will draw up a report on the functioning of the national measures imposing restrictions on free movement of labour. This will be presented to Council in January. It will contain information on any administrative, legal or technical issues observed in the imposing the restrictions and will also have a statistical element, showing labour flow information. Following this, Member States have until April 30 2006 to communicate to the Commission whether they wish to retain restrictions.
What happens if they do not communicate any restrictions before then? If a Member States chooses not to communicate any proposed restrictions before April 30, 2006, Community law comes into force for that Member State.
Can restrictions be tightened or extended? Member States can only maintain or loosen restrictions allowed for in the Accession Treaty.
How long can restrictions remain in place? Restrictions would be in place for three years from May 2006. Thereafter, they could be renewed for a further, final period of two years, but only if there is evidence that labour flows had disrupted (or were threatening to disrupt) a country's labour market. For more information, see the 'Legal Framework' sheet below.
Who imposed restrictions last time? Please see the overview sheet below.
Overview of national measures taken by Member States for the first two-year period ( 1 May 2004- 30 April 2006)
Because of differences in national measures taken by EU-15 Member States for the first two years of the transitional period, different legal regimes for access to the labour markets apply in each of these Member States. Of the EU-15 Member States, Sweden and Ireland decided not to apply any restrictions on access to their labour market by workers from the Member States that joined the EU on 1 May 2004. The UK decided not to apply any ex-ante restrictions on access to its labour market but adopted a Worker's Registration Scheme. Under this scheme workers from 8 of the Member States that joined the EU (all except Cyprus and Malta) must register with the UK Home Office within 30 days of starting their employment in the UK.
The remaining EU-15 Member States informed the Commission that they would for the time being, maintain their work permit system, albeit with some modifications. Denmark has decided to issue work permits to nationals from 8 of the Member States that joined the EU on 1 May 2004, on condition that their work is full-time and governed by a collective labour agreement. There is no need to satisfy a labour market test, but the applicants must also be granted a residence permit before starting their employment in Denmark. The Netherlands have adopted a two-fold procedure. A traditional full work-permit system, including a labour market test, applies for most sectors, but a number of sectors and occupations have been exempted from this regular procedure. If the exemption applies, a work permit can be granted within two weeks without the need for a labour market test. The list of exempted sectors and occupations is reviewed on a three-monthly basis. France has decided to maintain a work permit system but not for example, for work in the research sector. Belgium, Finland, Greece, Luxembourg and Spain have also decided to maintain a traditional work permit system. Italy has decided to keep its work permit system but has issued a special entry quota for workers from the 8 Member States in question. Legislation in Portugal also provides for a quota system. Germany and Austria have also informed the Commission that they maintain for the time being, a work permit system, albeit with some modifications. Both countries have also notified the Commission that they are making use of the provision set out in the Accession Treaty which allows them to apply restrictions for cross-border services in certain sensitive sectors, involving the temporary movement of workers.
As for the Member States that joined the EU on 1 May 2004, the majority have informed the Commission that they do not wish to make use of the possibility to invoke reciprocity vis-à-vis EU-15 Member States applying restrictions. Only Poland, Slovenia and Hungary apply reciprocity vis-à-vis EU-15 Member States that are applying restrictions. Further, Malta has informed the Commission that it is issuing work permits automatically, and for monitoring purposes, as provided for in its transitional arrangements.
Legal Framework of the Transitional Arrangements ( 1 May 2004- 30 April 2011)
The Treaty of Accession of 2003 sets out transitional arrangements for free movement of persons in the enlarged EU. As a result of these provisions, the application of a part of the community law on free movement of workers across the EU-25 may be deferred for a period of maximum 7 years.
The 2003 Accession Treaty divides the transitional period in three distinct phases, according to the "2-plus 3-plus 2" formula. Different conditions apply during each of these phases.
The first phase of the transitional arrangements started on 1 May 2004 and will end on 30 April 2006. For this first phase the Accession Treaty provides that in order to regulate access to their labour market EU-15 Member States will apply national measures or those resulting from bilateral agreements. Such measures can be applied by EU-15 Member States to workers from all of the Member States that joined the EU on 1 May 2004, except for workers from Cyprus or Malta.
The Accession Treaty stipulates that before the end of this first phase, which is before the 1st of May 2006, the following actions must be undertaken: (a) the Commission must submit a report to the Council on the functioning of the transitional arrangements; (b) the Council must review the functioning of the transitional arrangements and (c) on completion of this review, the EU-15 Member States shall notify the Commission as to their intentions for the next period, which starts on 1 May 2006 and ends on 30 April 2009. The Accession Treaty specifies that in the absence of notification, Community law on free movement of workers will apply.
As for the second phase of the transitional arrangements, the Accession Treaty states that EU-15 Member States may continue placing restrictions on access to their labour market until the end of the five year period following accession, which is until 30 April 2009. Consequently, the Accession Treaty assumes that in the normal course of events, Community law on free movement of workers should apply for the EU-25 Member States from 1 May 2009 onwards. Nevertheless, the Accession Treaty allows an EU-15 Member State to continue with restrictions in case of serious disturbances (or a threat thereof) of its labour market, in which case restrictions can be applied for the final phase, which is the last two years of the transitional period (from 1 May 2009 to 30 April 2011).
As for the Member States that joined the EU on 1 May 2004, the 2003 Accession Treaty makes a distinction between their relations with the EU-15 Member States on the one hand, and their relations with other Member States that joined the EU on the other. As for their relations which EU-15 Member States, the Accession Treaty allows for reciprocal restrictions vis-à-vis EU-15 Member States applying restrictions. By contrast, the Accession Treaty provides that in principle, Member States that joined the EU on 1 May 2004 should among themselves apply Community law on free movement of workers from the 1st of May 2004 onwards. There are no transitional arrangements for workers from Cyprus. Malta is allowed to invoke a safeguard clause and keep its work permit system for monitoring purposes.