EMPLOYMENT: BIG VARIATIONS IN MIGRATION FROM NEW MEMBER STATES.

State of play.

Ireland, the United Kingdom and Sweden are the only 'old' member states which chose not to impose restrictions. So far, there are hints that some, including Finland and Spain, are contemplating following suit while others, notably Germany and Austria, are unlikely to do so for the time being. The curbs only apply to nationals of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia. Of these, only Poland, Slovenia and Hungary apply reciprocal restrictions (i.e. to the EU15 minus Ireland, the UK and Sweden). Restrictions were not deemed necessary for Malta and Cyprus because of their small populations. These limits are permitted until May 2011 at the latest but member states are of course free to remove them at any time. If workers have already been living in an old member state for at least a year, they can continue to work there, although they do not have the right to move to another member state.

Commission seeks to end curbs.

The Commission's report is the prelude to the notification by member states by May 1, 2006 - two years after enlargement - of whether they intend keeping the restrictions. It comes as little surprise that the Commission is pushing for a more liberalised approach and is trying to use the migration statistics to back up its case. After all, free movement of labour for EU citizens is one of the cornerstones of the EC Treaty of which the Commission is guardian and the 'transitional arrangements' flout this principle. While deemed politically expedient at the time to assuage fears of a mass East-West migration post enlargement, the Commission is now asking member states whether they are being over-cautious.

UK and Ireland most popular destinations.

"There is no evidence either from administrative sources or from the labour force survey to show a direct link between the magnitude of mobility from EU10 member states and the transitional arrangements in place", the Commission claims. Nevertheless, the figures it produces show that some of the biggest influxes have been to two of the three countries that have opened their job market, Ireland and the UK. The UK has registered about 300,000 workers while over 100,000 have moved to Ireland. On the other hand, the only other old member state to open its labour market - Sweden - has taken in less than 10,000 workers from the EU10 since enlargement.

Germany, Austria influx.

Of the EU countries still operating a work permit and/or...