ENGLAND: Romanians and Bulgarians may face restrictions on entering UK if their countries join the EU next year, British Interior Minister John Reid reveals

Record ID: 348456

  • Title: ENGLAND: Romanians and Bulgarians may face restrictions on entering UK if their countries join the EU next year, British Interior Minister John Reid reveals
  • Date: 21st September 2006
  • Summary: (CEEF) CREWE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - JULY 2006) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CONSTRUCTION SITE
  • Embargoed: 6th October 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVACBONIZONBRC218N2WBN93U5U8
  • Story Text: Romanians and Bulgarians may face restrictions on entering Britain if their countries join the European Union (EU) next year, British Home Secretary (Interior Minister) John Reid said on Tuesday (September 19).
    Reid said immigration from the two countries would need to be carefully managed and that the planned expansion of the EU would have an impact on policing and crime.
    The government said in August it had introduced a managed immigration policy, using a points system to match up skills needed with immigration, which would apply to new EU entrants.
    "We need to manage immigration carefully, including in respect of the forthcoming decisions over Romania and Bulgaria. We need to consider carefully all of the implications of the accession of new states and ensure that we have all necessary safeguards in place," Reid told the Police Superintendents' Association annual conference.
    Reid said he knew that law enforcement agencies had already been working closely with the Romanian and Bulgarian governments.
    The EU is expected to make a final decision next month on whether Romania and Bulgaria can join. If, as expected, the move is approved, the two countries will become EU members on January 1 next year.
    On August 22 the British government announced that more than 400,000 east European workers had been allowed to work in Britain since May 2004. The figures vastly exceeding predictions and have fuelled calls for limits on workers from Bulgaria and Romania.
    The government said it approved 49,850 applicants from eight east European countries seeking to work in Britain in the second quarter of this year, bringing the total to 427,095 since these countries joined the European Union in May 2004.
    The figures have stoked an intense political debate in Britain over the pros and cons of migration from eastern Europe.
    Opposition Conservatives said the recent figures reinforced the case for restricting immigration from Bulgaria and Romania if they get the green light to join the EU in 2007 as scheduled.
    Speaking in August shadow minister for Immigration, Damian Green, said: "There will be people with skills in Romania and Bulgaria that will be very valuable to the British economy. What I'm arguing is that we want them to come in, in a controlled way so that we know roughly how many people are coming, we know what they are contributing to the economy, so that we don't put any stresses or strains on our social services in this country."
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