Bulgarians and Romanians given free labour market access

THE cabinet yesterday decided to allow the opening of the island’s labour market to Bulgarians and Romanians from January 1, 2007.

The move is in direct contrast to the policies of several other EU member states, that will be restricting numbers from the two countries due to join the bloc at the end of this year.

Greece said last month it too would not be placing restrictions on workers from the two countries but Britain and Ireland have reversed their open-door policy in the wake of an influx of Polish workers, and other former East bloc countries when they joined in 2004.

France only partly opened its doors to people from Bulgaria and Romania.

The cabinet said however it would retain the right to put restrictions in place if the move proved to have a negative effect on the labour market.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.