Dutch PM to visit Prague

The Dutch Prime Minister Peter Balkenende is to visit Prague on Monday, just two days after his country severely restricted access to its labour market by citizens from new EU member states. He is to meet his Czech counterpart Vladimir Spidla, as well as president Vaclav Klaus and heads of both houses of the Czech Parliament. It is expected that the Czech representatives will bring up the issue of free movement of labour. Until recently, the Netherlands was one of the few EU countries that did not want to limit employment of workers from the ten accession countries. However, on Friday, the Hague government approved restrictions, including a ban on employing people from the new member states in areas with high unemployment. Elsewhere, they could be employed only if there is no suitable Dutch candidate.