Nečas: number of EU citizens working in CR means Germany and Austria should open labour market

The number of people from other European Union states working in the Czech Republic is double the number of Czechs working elsewhere in the EU, the Czech labour minister, Petr Nečas, told reporters. He said this meant it was therefore unnecessary for Germany and Austria to bar workers from the Czech Republic and other new EU members until the end of a transition period in 2011. At the end of last year, 144,000 citizens of other EU states were employed in the Czech Republic, compared to 71,000 Czechs working elsewhere in the union. Over 100,000 of the former category were from Slovakia, though Mr Nečas said 40,000 other EU citizens represented a significant figure.