Belgium maintains labor market restrictions for Romanians and Bulgarians

The Belgian government announced that restrictions for Romanian and Bulgarian workers will be maintained for the following three years. The labor market will open on May 1 for East Europeans from eight states – Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. All eight states joined the European Union five years ago.

Belgium joins the group of 11 EU states that maintained labor market restrictions for Romania and Bulgaria, after the two countries joined the EU, in 2007. The United Kingdom, Germany and Austria also maintain restrictions for Romanian and Bulgarian workers, despite all EC recommendations.