UK Extends Tough Restrictions on Bulgaria Workers to 2011

The UK government has announced that it will deny Bulgarian and Romanian citizens ‘open door’ access to work in Britain for at least another two years.

UK Immigration Minister Phil Woolas stated late Tuesday that in each of the next two years, Britain will admit just under 25 000 low-skilled Bulgarians and Romanians to work under a quota system in agriculture (21 500) and the food processing industry (3 500).

Other UK Ministers said the decision had been taken to protect British workers and the 'national interest'. So far the restrictions have been reviewed annually.

Britain imposed the same limits when Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union in 2007, and renewed them in December last year under EU rules allowing it to do so for up seven years.

The UK was one of the only EU countries to let citizens of new member states work without restriction when eight central and eastern European countries joined in 2004, but a huge influx of Poles into the country has caused the British government to be wary when coming to relax the immigration laws further.