Bulgaria and Romania Join the EU

The Jan. 2007 issue of Migration Information Source is out.  Click here to see the issue.  The feature story is on the expansion of the European Union. On January 1, Bulgaria and Romainia became the newest members of the European Union (EU), bringing the EU’s population to 493 million. For the two newcomers, membership will bring immense rewards in terms of economic growth, trade, cultural exchange, and global diplomatic clout. For the existing Member States, especially the 15 “old” EU states who were members before 2004, the arrival of Romania and Bulgaria heralds yet another round of anxieties about a different sort of impact: the movement of people. Worried about the potential of being overwhelmed by workers moving from poorer, new Member States to richer old ones, the treaties governing the accession of new members have a “transitional” clause that allows existing Member States to restrict the free movement of “accession” workers for up to seven years.

Will North America ever consider a labor migration arrangement like that in the EU?

KJ