Immigration fears spook British government. Romanians and Bulgarians free to immigrate

[pampango]

within the EU starting in January.

Last week the UK's Immigration Minister Mark Harper tried to calm the rising agitation about migrants arriving in the New Year from Bulgaria and Romania. This time, he said, Bulgarians and Romanians would have the choice of many countries including Germany and including places like Italy and Spain where there are already Romanian communities.

Most importantly, the minister tried to shut the door on a proposal that the government should extent the current controls beyond New Year's Day. "It simply isn't legally possible," he said. "Treaties would have to be amended. It would not be complicit with treaty obligations."

This controversy raises wider themes. The freedom to move and work in the EU is regarded as a core achievement. Many have taken advantage of it.

But times are difficult and unemployment remains stubbornly high. Despite the billions that have been spent on trying to reduce the inequality between countries like Romania and Bulgaria and the rest of the EU, the standards of living are very different. It reveals just how difficult it is to bring the economies of all 28 EU members closer together.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25087153

It will be interesting to see how many Bulgarians and Romanians immigrate within Europe beginning in 2014 and which countries they go to. The population of Romania is 20 million and Bulgaria 7 million, so they are not large countries compared to the 500 million in the EU, but there will be tensions.

[HipChick]

1. This will not end well...the Brits are already upset about the Polish and other Eastern bloc

countries taking their jobs and housing..

[pampango]

2. There may be no 'end' in the sense that migration within Europe seems inevitable.

The EU is not going away - unless some of the more conservative parties eventually get their way - and freedom of movement is a part of the EU deal.