Career Opportunities, The Ones That Never Knock

 Brexit & Working Restrictions

UKIP Campaign Poster (Source: EurActiv)

Many years ago, Alanis Morissette had a huge hit called Ironic. It is one of those trademark 1990s songs that regularly occur when VH1 or MTV have their flashbacks. In that song, Morissette sings brilliant lyrics about everyday life ironies, from forbidden smoking on cigarette breaks, to personal relationships and habits. As I am a fan of humour based on irony and sarcasm, I could name numerous examples where I thought about this song. The latest one is related to Brexit, and concerns working restrictions in the EU.

Citizens of the post-communist countries (that entered the EU in and after 2004) have experienced certain regulations concerning the freedom of labour in the EU. It is the well-known rule 2+3+2, in which a certain EU country can impose restrictions on the working rights of citizens from a new Member State for a maximum of 7 years. However, they need to clarify to the Commission that their labour market would be heavily disrupted if the restrictions are not introduced, and that the country needs time to adapt. It is something that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair did not do in 2004, opening up the door for citizens of new EU Member States from the Big Bang enlargement to freely move and work in the UK.

Back then, it was a decision broadly supported in the (pre-Iraqi War) golden era of the UK and the Labour party. However, the decision was discussed many years later by UK populists, mainly UKIP, to attack the UK membership in the EU. The term “Polish plumber” can basically be a paradigm for British politicians playing on anti-EU sentiments by claiming that the freedom of movement killed the UK job market and left many British citizens unemployed. With topics regarding security and migration, it basically dominated the Brexit campaign, especially through the well-known dog-whistle politics of UKIP and parts of the Tory party.

But let us go back to chronology. The UK stance changed in 2007, when Bulgaria and Romania entered the EU. The UK government immediately reacted, using the maximum limit of 7 years to restrict access to Bulgarians and Romanians to the job market. When the restrictions ended in 2014, UKIP was already very strong and influential in EU debates. Hence, infantile stunts at the airport to welcome “massive numbers” of Bulgarians and Romanians moving to the UK were pulled, but that is nothing new or unexpected from a political force that can only profit from unstable situations. The newest example with working restrictions is Croatia, which joined the EU in 2013. Croatian citizens are still restricted from free access to the UK labour market. However, there is one problem and it is called Brexit.

As uncertain as it can be, the process of Brexit has so far crystallised the priorities and the willingness of the UK to respect the rights of the EU citizens after 2019. The issue with Croatia is that the 5-year restriction period will expire this July, and then the UK has to decide if it will utilise the last possible 2-year extension of the restrictions, or provide the Croatian citizens full access to its job market. The problem, which the Commission is very well aware of, is the fact that if the UK imposes an additional 2-year restriction, it will overpass the date of Brexit. That means that Croatian citizens would never gain full access to the UK labour market, and will be stripped of their EU citizenship rights.

A couple of days ago Brexit Minister David Davis was in Croatia to discuss this issue. It seems from the media reports that the UK will choose an elegant and less-complex way of dealing with the issue and it will lift the working restrictions for Croatian citizens. After all, there is no real threat of disruption to the UK job market. However, if it weren’t for Brexit, they would probably extend the restrictions, especially bearing in mind the current political climate in the UK. Hence, at the end of the day, we could now have the irony that Brexit triggered an additional opening of the UK job market. Interesting times we live in.

(Source: The Atlantic)