France opens its labour market to Eastern Europeans

First Spain, then Portugal and Finland, and now France has announced that it will gradually open its labour market to EU citizens from Eastern European countries. Jan Machacek welcomes the move: "For the freedom-loving Czechs, this is more important than all the subsidies Brussels has to offer. Until now, joining the EU left a sour taste because we were denied the fundamental freedom to work and live where we choose... The opening of the French labour market marks a psychological turning point... It makes the protectionist arguments in Austria and Germany untenable. But instead of criticising our neighbours we should ask ourselves whether we Czechs are now prepared to open our labour market to Romanians and Bulgarians."

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