Bulgaria's Cardiovascular Crisis: Deputy PM Urges Action
Bulgaria is grappling with a staggering burden of cardiovascular diseases, with more than 6 million new cases and over 1.8 million deaths reported annually
HOT: » Assessing the Legacy of Bulgaria's "Denkov" Cabinet: Achievements, Failures, and What Comes Next
The European Commission will request that labor restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians be lifted by the last nine EU member states to have them, EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs Laszlo Andor said in Brussels.
Of the 27 EU countries, nine - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, and the UK - have decided to keep Bulgarians and Romanians out of their labor markets until the final possible date - December 31, 2013.
Under Bulgaria and Romania's EU accession agreements signed back in 2005, all other EU state had the right to deny labor market access to their citizens for a period of up to 7 years (in three phases: 2+3+2 years). A total of 16 out of the 25 other EU member states have lifted the labor restrictions for Bulgarians and Romanians during the first two phases.
"The Commission will present an overview of the implementation of the transitional measures by the Member States that will continue to impose restrictions to workers from Romania and Bulgaria until 31 December 2013. The final third phase of the transitional arrangements on free movement of workers from Bulgaria and Romania started on 1 January 2012," the EC said in a statement after Friday's sitting of the Council of EU Employment and Social Policy Ministers.
The EC notes that of 11 Member States that had still applied restrictions at the end of 2011, 2 Member States - Italy and the Czech Republic - informed the Commission that they had decided to end applying national law on labor market access and move to apply EU law on free movement of workers as of 1 January 2012.
"Nine Member States (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, and UK) notified the Commission before 31 December 2011 of their decision to continue to apply restrictions and provided an explanation with arguments and data of serious labour market disturbances or threat thereof," it added.
According to EU Commissioner Andor, however, the arguments provided by the nine states in question do not appear convincing, the Bulgarian National Radio reported.
Regardless of its latest push for unfettered labor rights across the EU, however, the Commission has no way of forcing the member states to open up their labor markets for Bulgarians and Romanians before the expiration of the transition period.
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
Bulgaria's Minister of Defense Todor Tagarev admitted the possibility that an explosive device might have been planted on board the crashed plane in which Yevgeny Prigozhin was traveling
The European Commission has announced that it is preparing criminal proceedings against Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, and Portugal for incorrect application of the rules on the exchange of data on criminal records and the establishment of the relevant
The European Commission has started an evaluation of the Plan for Reconstruction and Development of Bulgaria, said the spokesman of the European Commission Eric Mamer. The document was submitted to the Commission on 15 October.
58% of Bulgarians do not support the introduction of the euro as the official currency in the country. This shows a study prepared by Trend agency specifically for the financial forum NEXT DIFI 2021, organized by b2b Media for the fifth year. The data dur
Too late Bulgaria began to explain its own position towards North Macedonia, as it should have been clear to our European partners some time ago.
An SPD-led government in Germany has significant potential to sharpen international attention to the problems of corruption in Bulgaria.
UN Happiness Report: Bulgaria's Astonishing Leap in Rankings
Bulgaria: 3 Regions With Lowest Life Expectancy - EU Report 2022