Hassle-free movement between job-seeking citizens of current and new member states won't become a reality on accession day, 1 May 2004. Nannette Ripmeester, founder of Expertise in Labour Mobility, explains.

Less administrative hassle?

Being able to move freely across Europe is one of the most important expressions of European citizenship. The opportunity to move employees freely between European countries has created many opportunities. And, more importantly, it has eased the administrative burden on many HR departments. Those of you who recruit from outside the European Union will be aware of the hassle that goes with acquiring work permits for your non-EU employees. With ten new countries joining the EU on 1 May 2004, a considerable extension of (almost!) hassle-free cross-border movement will be a fact.

Moving employees

The general right to free movement between EU countries is open to all, including those from the accession countries. And this right is not affected by the transitional arrangement that is put in place for employees. So there are no additional restrictions on movement, for example, for study or residence purposes. However, movement between the current and the new member states for purposes of work, in particular work as an employee, is restricted for up to a maximum of seven years. Cyprus and Malta, the only exceptions out of the ten new countries, will have complete freedom of movement with the current Member States from May 2004 onwards.

More free movement?

The widening of the Union will not have such a great and immediate effect on the freedom of movement of employees. For example, Hungarian employees cannot easily move to Germany for work reasons, nor can French people work in Lithuania without any restrictions. The new situation basically will be comparable to the current situation whereby people from the future EU member states need to get a work permit to work in the EU. At the same time a ‘preference rule’ is put in place, which gives citizens of the new member states priority over people from non-EU countries. The regulations for the self-employed are less restrictive – people will be completely free to deliver services across the border as self-employed or as a company.

Local recruitment habits

Even though it will be challenging, there are certainly opportunities to be found when relocating people to the new countries and recruiting from these countries. With regard to the permit situation, for the first two years after accession, the current member states will admit employees from the future member states under their own national rules, rather than under community rules on free movement. After these first two years, the situation will be evaluated, but it is only after seven years that Member States will no longer be required to have work permits. On the other hand, if an EU citizen decides to try his or her luck in one of the new countries, it is very likely that they will not be able to move freely to the new countries, as the future member states have the option of applying equivalent restrictions to those countries which place restrictions against them. But globalisation will affect all involved – labour mobility will increase and the chances are there to be taken.

To help you to get to grips with the local recruitment habits in the new EU Member States ELM has published a guide on the ten EU Accession Countries: “Looking for work in the 10 EU Accession Countries” (ISBN 90-5896-051-X), which can be ordered via www.labourmobility.com

November 2003

Nannette Ripmeester is managing director and founder of Expertise in Labour Mobility (www.labourmobility.com), a knowledge broker on issues related to mobility on the international labour market. Through the service HR Abroad® (www.hrabroad.com) ELM assists businesses to quickly grasp the major HR issues in a foreign country.