Balkans need not apply

last updated 8 January 2015

London

Stung by its past open-door policy toward foreign workers, Britain said this week that it will not fully open its labor market to Romanians and Bulgarians when those two countries join the E.U. in January. Britain was one of three E.U. countries that opened its jobs to all nationals from the 10 states that joined in 2004. Economists had predicted that some 10,000 newcomers would seek jobs in Britain each year, but instead 400,000 have flooded in. Home Secretary John Reid said that Britain would initially limit the number of migrants allowed in from Bulgaria and Romania, but would review the limits each year. Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Dimitar Tsanchev threatened “reciprocal measures” against Britons. “Such a decision puts us in an unequal position,” he said.