FREE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE : FRANCE TO OPEN ITS DOORS TO EASTERN EUROPEAN WORKERS.

• Position: Brief article

At the end of the seventh Interministerial Committee devoted to Europe, held in Paris on 10 March, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced that France's position with respect to the opening of the labour market to workers from Eastern Europe was to change (see Europolitics 3037). As of 1 May, "French authorities will embark on a gradual and controlled lifting of the restrictions to free movement of employees originating from eight countries that joined the European Union on 1 May 2004", he indicated in a press release published after the Council. "The lifting of restrictions will primarily concern those professions which are currently experiencing problems in recruiting staff."

The building sector, the health sector and the Information Technology sector are often cited. "The practical arrangements for lifting these restrictions will de discussed with social...