THE migration of European Union citizens in search for work in other member states is a "major signal" that more efforts are needed to fight the economic crisis, the EU's top labour official has warned, amid a fierce debate on so-called benefit tourism.
Since January 1, citizens from Romania and Bulgaria have been free to look for work anywhere in the EU, prompting fears of a flood of migrants seeking welfare benefits rather than employment.
EU Employment Commissioner Laszlo Andor said on Tuesday this discussion would likely "calm down" in a few weeks' time, when "people see that there is no influx of Bulgarian and Romanian workers."
He warned, however, that the EU was experiencing "increasing numbers migrating away not from Romania and Bulgaria but (from) the more peripheral regions of the eurozone, because of the continuing eurozone crisis".
"I believe this is also a major signal which we have to pay attention to," he said, adding that the response to the economic crisis should "speed up rather than slow down".
The pressure on eurozone economies to reform has receded since the bloc exited from recession last year.
Andor has previously warned that the austerity-driven approach to the eurozone crisis was harmful to workers and entrepreneurs, while increasing inequalities, undermining EU growth prospects and alienating citizens.
"The eurozone must be reformed to avoid the risk that the EU itself could be destroyed by political conflict among the winners and losers," Andor wrote in December on the Vox website associated with the Centre for Economic Policy Research.
The freedom to live and work anywhere in the EU is considered a key achievement of the bloc. Only Croatia now faces labour restrictions, which EU countries can impose for up to seven years on a new member state.
But migration issues have recently dominated the headlines in leading European economies including Britain, where Prime Minister David Cameron has proposed capping net immigration at below 100,000 people annually by 2015.
Business Secretary Vince Cable, who has previously distanced himself from the coalition government's immigration policy, said on Tuesday that such a target was "not helpful" and would not achieve the desired effect.
There are also questions over whether such a cap would be in line with EU law.
Meanwhile, UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage dismissed the argument that immigration often brings economic benefits.
"I would rather we had communities that felt more united and I would rather have a situation where young unemployed British people had a realistic chance of getting a job," Farage told BBC radio on Tuesday.
A survey by NatCen Social Research commissioned by the BBC revealed that 77 per cent of the British public want a reduction in immigration.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Eurozone crisis 'fuelling EU migration'
Dengan url
https://tikusinternet.blogspot.com/2014/01/eurozone-crisis-fuelling-eu-migration.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Eurozone crisis 'fuelling EU migration'
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Eurozone crisis 'fuelling EU migration'
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar