Bulgaria criticises Europe over job restrictions

Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov today criticised EU nations for imposing job restrictions on Bulgarians, arguing that a free flow of labour between the Balkan country and other EU members would benefit the bloc.

Only 11 of the 27 EU member states, mostly those that joined the bloc in 2004, have opened their job markets to Bulgarians for fear of an influx of cheap labour, despite indications that few Bulgarians would seek work in the West.

“It is hard to understand why some member states did not open their labour market to Bulgarians the way they did to the countries that joined in 2004.

"Lifting the last barriers will bring benefits to both Bulgaria and the EU,” Parvanov told the European Parliament on his first trip to Brussels following Bulgaria’s accession to the EU last month.

More than half a million workers from eight EU nations that joined in 2004 migrated to the West, helping economic growth and filling vacancies in low-paid jobs in countries such as Britain and Ireland, which now argue their labour market is near-saturated.

In Britain, the government also faces concern over EU immigrant numbers.

In other remarks Parvanov told parliamentarians his government would agree to a new safety review of the two closed units of Bulgaria’s nuclear plant to prove it had been safe to operate.

In addition, he promised to complete judiciary reforms to curb organised crime and high-level corruption.

Bulgaria was told last year it must accelerate reform if it wants to fully benefit from its membership of the 27-nation EU. It will have to report progress every six months, with the first report due in March.

Closure of two ageing Russian-made reactors of the Kozlodui nuclear plant was part of Bulgaria’s EU entry agreements, costing the country up to £200m (€302.3m) due to the need to slash electricity exports to meet domestic demand.

But Kozlodui will continue operations with two 1,000-megawatt units, also of the Russian VVER type.

“If our partners find it necessary, Bulgaria will agree to a new peer review of reactors three and four.

"The mandate must be clearly formulated,” Parvanov said.