Denmark will open their job markets to Romanians and Bulgarians

Romanians and Bulgarians are still not seen as full-fledged citizens of the European Union. Many member states continue to keep them out of their job markets, particularly now that their economies are falling into recession.

A large number of European Union countries, including the Netherlands, will continue to restrict labor market access for citizens of recent EU newcomers Romania and Bulgaria, says a European Commission review published on Thursday. The older EU member states are worried about the loss of job opportunities and they are using the current financial crisis as an argument for protecting their job markets longer. "First we have to protect jobs for our own workers," Phil Woolas, British minister of state for borders and immigration, said in a statement.

The concern voiced by Woolas has been present since 10 countries, including Poland, joined the bloc in 2004. Under the terms of the Eastern European countries' accession to the EU, Western Europe countries were allowed to limit access to there labor markets for up to seven years. The same conditions were applied to Romania and Bulgaria when they joined in 2007. Restrictions were lifted for Polish workers in most member states in 2007 (though they remain in effect in Germany). Spain, Portugal, Greece, Hungary and Denmark will open their job markets to Romanians and Bulgarians in 2009.

More: Der Spiegel