Bulgaria may restrict Irish workers

Bulgaria today deplored plans by some EU members to limit the access of Bulgarian and Romanian workers to their labour markets once the two Balkan countries join the EU on January 1, and said it would consider reciprocal measures.

“We will discuss the possibility to impose reciprocal restrictions on Britain, as well as on other EU member states that restrict the free movement of labour,” foreign ministry spokesman Dimitar Tsanchev told reporters.

“Each member state has the right to impose such restrictions, as provided in our entry treaty, but we think that such a decision will put us on an unequal footing with the 10 member states that joined in 2004,” Tsanchev said, adding Ireland and Britain’s decision was “disappointing.”

This morning, the Republic of Ireland and Britain – which, along with Sweden, were the only EU members that did not impose any restrictions on the 10 mostly eastern European countries that joined in 2004 – said this time they will not offer unlimited access to Bulgarians and Romanians, for at least a year after their entry.