Permit scheme to cut flow of east Europeans

jp · 31-08-2006, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Ministers are planning to introduce a work permit system for Bulgarians and Romanians that will require them to prove they can fill specific skill shortages, a senior government figure has told the Guardian.
Relatively few potential job applicants from the two countries are likely to meet the expected criteria in a move designed to take pressure off the government over immigration.

"We have a strong record on accepting migrants from Europe, but sometimes politics has to override the economics and that is what is going to happen in this case," said one cabinet minister closely involved in the talks.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/...861635,00.html

We know this is window dressing BS. All that will happen is they will arrive as tourists & work illegally as has happened in other countries who put controls on the East European states.

John Page · 31-08-2006, 07:52 AM

Quote:

"We have a strong record on accepting migrants from Europe, but sometimes politics has to override the economics and that is what is going to happen in this case," said one cabinet minister closely involved in the talks.

Then s/he's missed the point completely.

John Page · 31-08-2006, 11:27 AM

OpenEurope have commented -

Quote:

As we have argued before, a work permit system is likely to be widely circumvented, both legally under EU law, and also illegally, once visa controls are abandoned. So we predict that such a system will trigger an endless stream of news stories about how people are getting round the so called “restrictions”. However, Reid’s apparent victory over Hoon highlights some interesting questions for the Conservatives. With both parties now in favour of some kind of permit system, how can they redefine the difference? Partly this will turn on how many permits both parties want to allow and for what kind of people. But there are some open goals for the opposition too: why not call for a law to make sure that anyone from other member states who comes to the UK and commits a crime is deported? We think there would be overwhelming public support for such a law. It would mean amending or repealing some EU legislation, but nonetheless the Government would find it difficult to make the case against it: ministers are not going to go on TV to say “no, you can’t throw out criminals from abroad because otherwise we will have to have a row with the EU.”

The row over Romania, Bulgaria and immigration is likely to get more intense in a few weeks’ time. On 22 September ministers are going to be discussing the end of the veto on legal migration, and on 26 September the Commission will make its decision on letting Bulgaria and Romania join. The two issues are likely to be conflated, and both parties will need to have their lines straight by then.

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