Cameron Says Bulgarian, Romanian Influx Impossible to Predict

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has stated that it is currently impossible to predict immigration levels from Bulgaria and Romania when access restrictions are lifted in December 2013.

Cameron has thus echoed a statement made by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, who said Sunday that nobody knew how many people would come from those two countries.

"I completely support what Eric Pickles has said, which is 'Don't make official predictions unless and until you've got real confidence in those figures'," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today program, as cited by The Independent.

The Prime Minister noted that transitional controls were in place this time, unlike when Poland acceded, but added that the Government did not want to give misleading figures like the last Labour administration.

The previous administration grossly underestimated the numbers in 2004. It predicted fewer than 20,000 eastern Europeans would arrive but Office for National Statistics figures show more than 600,000 were working in Britain last year.

Romania and Bulgaria's citizens can move to Britain for work when temporary limits expire on December 31 2013.

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