John Page

Saturday’s Guardian reported that John Reid is considering a temporary ban to deny Romanians and Bulgarians full rights to work in the UK when they join the EU next year. He is supported by Work and Pensions Minister John Hutton, but the Foreign Office wants Britain to keep its open-door policy for EU workers. Meanwhile, in what was described as “the latest blow to the Government’s open door immigration policy”, Saturday’s Mail reported that Council leaders have warned that homeless unemployed Eastern Europeans “will cause havoc on Britain’s streets” unless John Reid spends hundreds of thousands of pounds to send them home.

Saturday’s Express reported that senior Labour MP John Denham, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, has said the Government must close its doors to Bulgaria and Romania, arguing that there are now more than a million Eastern European workers in the UK – up to three times more than official figures show. It has also emerged that nearly a million Moldovans are believed to have obtained Romanian passports that would give them free movement around the EU once their neighbour joins. In an op-ed in the Mail on Sunday Labour MP Frank Field also warned against allowing Bulgarian and Romanian workers into the UK labour market.

The Mail on Sunday, Express and Sun report that migrants from Eastern Europe have been claiming child benefit in the UK for children that live in their home country. Polish migrants have made over 50,000 claims. They can claim £907.40 a year for their first child and £608.40 for each extra child. The Sunday Telegraph reports that thousands of Moldovans are exploiting Bulgaria’s lax citizenship scheme and are being granted Bulgarian passports which will enable them to travel across the EU once the country joins in January 2007. Agencies have confirmed that 99% of applicants will receive Bulgarian passports for about €130. An agency owner told the paper that, "All applicants need to provide is a birth certificate and say that they have no convictions, and then sign a statement claiming they are Bulgarians by origin. The process takes up to a year, but it could be fast-tracked to a couple of months for a higher fee. Macedonians of Orthodox Christian faith normally have no problems and officials are only picky about people of Islamic confession.” The Sunday Express reported that EU law bans the UK from stopping criminals from other EU member states from entering the country and also from deporting them if they commit a crime in the UK.

Open Europe comments -

There is growing concern about the predicted increase in migration to the UK once Romania and Bulgaria join the EU. But John Reid’s response, to lobby for restrictions to the number of migrants who are allowed to work in Britain, is not a meaningful solution, and indeed could result in a lose-lose situation. Once Bulgaria and Romania join the EU, the UK will have to abandon its visa requirements from those countries anyway, and the option of making people register with the police. People from both countries will also get an automatic three month EU ‘right to reside’ – so even if the Government limits their right to work in the UK many will still be able to come to Britain. The experience of countries with such “controls” suggests that many will then work in the grey economy and will still be able to access public services such as the NHS, but without paying tax.

Migrants who genuinely come to seek work legally, pay tax and contribute to society would be turned away, while criminals and those who come with no intention of working would still be let in. Given that leaked Government documents have warned that the restrictions they put in place to stop welfare migration are likely to be struck down if challenged in court, this could lead to substantial abuse of the UK’s welfare system, but without providing any real economic benefit to Britain.

The basic problem is that over time the European Court of Justice has twisted the treaty commitment to “free movement of workers” into “free movement of people.” The solution is to allow free movement of workers – but repeal the EU legislation which makes it more difficult to control the movement of criminals and the rights of non-workers to access benefits.