EU: UK Won't Curb Bulgarian, Romanian Immigration

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has assured Bulgaria and Romania that the UK will not keep its labor market restrictions for their citizens after December 31, 2013.

"Free movement of workers is one of the fundamental freedoms of the EU Treaty and the

Commission has always attached great importance to ensuring that EU citizens can enjoy

this right without any restrictions,"Barroso has noted in a letter addressed to Bulgarian MEP Ivaylo Kalfin and Romanian MEP Catalin Ivan.

Ivan and Kalfin sent a letter to Barroso regarding the access of Bulgarians and Romanians to the UK labor market earlier in February

"As far as Romanian and Bulgarian workers are concerned, I would like to recall that the

Commission has made it clear on several occasions that the restrictions on their access to

the labour markets of other Member States will irrevocably end on 31 December 2013 and

that no Member State can unilaterally extend these restrictions," Barroso has declared in his answer.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding warned Thursday that it will not be possible for Britain to restrict the freedom of movement of Bulgarians and Romanians when transitional controls are lifted..