Spain asked to clarify plan for Romanian work permits

Spain claims labour market under threat, but Commission says review is required.

The European Commission on Tuesday (26 July) asked the Spanish government to provide details of its plan to reintroduce work permits for Romanians.

Spain notified the Commission on Friday that it was invoking a safeguard clause in Romania’s EU accession treaty to revoke temporarily the right of Romanian nationals to work freely in Spain.

The Commission said it had not yet received an official request from Spain to conduct a review, as required by law, into whether the decision was in line with EU rules on free movement. Commission officials say it is not clear when Spain plans to put the restrictions into place, but that the review would take two weeks to complete.

Spanish authorities on 22 July said that the measures were to be introduced from 1 August. A government press release described the initiative as “a purely technical decision based on domestic considerations generated by the labour market situation in Spain”. The unemployment rate in Spain is 20%.

The press release said that Romanian citizens wanting to work in Spain “must obtain prior authorisation based on the existence of an employment contract”.

‘Exceptional circumstances’

The safeguard clause allows member states to suspend the free movement of nationals from Romania and Bulgaria in “urgent and exceptional” circumstances.

Spain lifted restrictions on the movement of workers from Romania in 2009, but now argues that an increased number of Romanians are entering the country to work in its construction sector, which has been brought to near-collapse by the economic crisis. The clause has never been used before in this way, and Spain will have to demonstrate the risk of a major distortion of its labour market, Commission officials said.

Ten member states, including France, Germany, Italy and the UK, have placed restrictions on workers from Romania and Bulgaria since the countries joined the EU in 2007. From 2014, all such restrictions must be lifted.