More East European seek work in UK

IRNA - More workers from East European members of the EU applied to work in the UK during the first quarter of this year.

According to Home Office figures released Tuesday, almost 8,000 Romanian and Bulgarian workers registered to work in the UK in the three months after their countries joined the European Union in January.

In addition, a further 49,000 workers from eight other Eastern European countries, which are already in the EU, applied to work in the UK, bringing the total to more than 640,000 since the EU was expanded in May 2004.

Unlike the first waves of mainly Poles, the UK has sought to restrict the rights for Bulgarian and Romanian workers to free access to the British labour market.

Of the 7,935 workers from Romania and Bulgaria, who were granted permission to arrive, some 5,075 were allowed to apply directly for jobs, 2,660 registered as self-employed and 2,425 arrived as seasonal farm workers.

Half of the applicants were between 25 and 34 years old and a almost a third went into the entertainment and leisure industry. Six out of every 10 applicants came from Romania.

Back in 2004, the UK was one of the only countries to allow free access to its labour market for the eight new East European members, while the numbers arrived were far greater than had been expected.

Immigration minister Liam Byrne said that while it remains too soon to evaluate the full impact of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, the government will continue to monitor how restrictions are working together with other indicators.

"The early indications are that our policy of restricting access to the UK's labour market is helping to ensure that only those who have something to offer the UK are allowed to work here," Byrne said.

By 2008, the government is hoping to implement planned changes to the migration system, which will help ministers to assess the appropriate levels of economic migrants that fill gaps in the UK labour market.