Ireland sees largest influx of workers

IRELAND has had the largest influx of workers from the new EU member states since enlargement two years ago, according to new European Commission research.

The report found free movement of workers since EU enlargement in 2004 has had positive effects.

Workers from the 10 EU states helped relieve labour market shortages, as well as contributing to a better economic performance in Europe.

New member state nationals represented less than 1% of the working age population in all countries - except Ireland at 3.8% and Austria at 1.4% in 2005.

“Ireland has seen relatively the largest inflow of workers. This contributed to its very good economic performance. EU10 workers alleviated skills bottlenecks, and had a much lower percentage of unskilled workers than the national equivalent,” the report stated.

When the new states joined the EU, the 15 old states were allowed to restrict the number of migrant workers coming from eastern Europe for up to seven years. Twelve chose to do this, mainly through a work permit system.

Ireland, Britain and Sweden opted to open their labour markets immediately.

The research found countries that opened their markets after May 2004 without the restrictions have experienced high economic growth, a drop in unemployment and a rise in employment.

The Report on the Functioning of Transitional Arrangements found that in the 12 EU countries where workers managed to obtain access legally despite restrictions, there was a smooth integration into the labour market.

But the research showed some of these countries operating restrictions have experienced problems such as higher levels of undeclared work and bogus self-employed work.

Vladimir Spidla, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, urged member states to re-evaluate whether the restrictions are still needed during the transition period.

“Free movement of workers is one of the four fundamental freedoms of the EU. This report clearly shows that the movement of free workers has not had disruptive effects on the EU15 labour market. Quite the contrary - individual countries and Europe as a whole have benefited from it,” he said.

The statistics, submitted by the EU member states, show most countries experienced lower than expected labour flows from central and eastern Europe.

There was no evidence found of a major surge in either numbers of workers or welfare expenditure following enlargement.