The treatment of Czech workers in EU15 during the transition period
The treatment of Czech workers in EU15
during the transition period
In 11 of the EU 15 countries, and for the first two years of EU-membership, the
treatment of Czech workers will be comparable to that before accession. Citizens
from the new member countries will still need a permit to work – and some countries
have introduced quotas for new member states workers, and some very specific
exemptions (Table 6.4). These restrictions could be extended for up to
5 additional years until May 2011. At the same time a “preference rule” is stated,
which should give new member workers priority over people from third countries.
The accession treaty also provides for possible restrictions on the free delivery of
cross-border services. Austria and Germany have passed legislation restricting the
movement of workers from new member countries in a number of sectors, notably
construction and industrial cleaning (Table 6.4). The situation of workers from the
new member states already working in one of the EU15 countries before
May 2004 with a work permit of at least 12 months has improved however, since
they are automatically granted the possibility to work in the host country without
renewing their permit. The same rule applies to those who obtain a work permit
for one year or more. The situation of the self-employed is also unchanged, as
they have been free to establish in the EU15 since the Europe agreement came
into force in 1995.
Czech workers will nevertheless have access to some EU countries. While a
work permit is still required in Denmark for citizens of new member countries, eligibility
is very easy to fulfil compared with third country nationals (although
Denmark has kept the right to revise these conditions after two years). Ireland,
Sweden and the United Kingdom have fully opened their labour market. At the
same time, fearing an increase in claims to social assistance, Ireland and the
United Kingdom have restricted access to their welfare systems by conditioning it
to a residence test. The restriction applies to social assistance schemes, such as
unemployment assistance, disability allowance, housing allowance, child benefits,
etc. While the test applies to citizens of all nationalities, the European Commission
is still examining the legislation as it is concerned that the residence test de
facto constitutes an indirect discrimination among EU citizens, infringing the clause
of equal treatment for access to social assistance and insurance.
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overseas. What about the long run? In general studies find that migration flows will
increase in a free movement environment, but not massively. A study by AlvarezPlata
et al. (2003) for the European Commission estimates the long-run migration
potential stock of the recent 10 EU members to be between 3.2 and 4.5 million
persons in 2030, corresponding to 3.2 – 4.5 per cent of their population. Various
studies with country-specific results have also been conducted (Table 6.5). These
studies probably overestimate the migration potential as they measure the propensity
of workers to migrate, not the capacity of host-country labour markets to
absorb additional workers, and the gap between propensity, serious intention and
action is difficult to capture. This aside, the results of Table 6.5, interestingly suggest
that Czechs are among the least inclined to migrate.
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