Spidla slams movement of labour restrictions in enlarged EU

On a visit to Finland, the Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla criticized movement of labour restrictions within the enlarged EU. Of all the EU member states only Britain and Ireland have opened their labour markets to the newcomers. The Czech Prime Minister said the restrictions introduced against the new EU countries were ungrounded and based on prejudice. The Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen countered that although his country had introduced a two year restriction period it is at the same time very flexible in granting labour permits. 8o% of all applications submitted have been granted, he said.