Why are some EU states planning to shut out central European workers?

The Czech and Slovak governments this week appealed to the 15 European Union members to open their labour markets. Their appeal comes as Sweden, Britain and others say they will block migration from the new member states if there's a rush after the first of May when the EU enlarges - going against a long European tradition of free movement of labour. Britain says it will restrict social security benefits to prevent what Prime Minister Tony Blair calls the "pull factor" but insists it's not going back on a pledge to open its labour market to the new members. But is Britain in effect restricting labour movement from Central Europe? The question was put to the British Minister for Europe, Denis MacShane.

Photo: European Commission

"No each country is responding to that differently. As you know the British policy is that people who want to work in our country, and we need people with skills to come, can come if they can get a job. What they can't do is just come, as it were, to live as guests of the British taxpayer."

Prime Minister Tony Blair said in Parliament the other day he would reduce or remove the "pull factor." I wonder what he means by that?

"There is the false impression around in some circles, not I think among people who actually come to Britain, that Britain is a country which is more generous in giving benefits to people who don't work. We do welcome and we have in Britain many thousands, scores of thousands of people from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Baltic states, already working and we want the right skills but the people should come because they are going to find a job of work and work. The pull factor in that sense, the technical phrase, suggests that people can come and live even if they are not working. That's really not the case in Britain. No one should have any illusions that you can come to Britain unless you've actually got a job of work to come to."

So you won't be going back on the promise that Britain's labour market would be open to all of the candidate countries from the first of May?

"We have as a government, powers, that if we see suddenly thousands of people arriving from any of the accession countries, that are not coming because there is a job of work, but because they simply think that life might be better in Britain, we can bring in restrictions instantaneously to prevent that."

When it comes down to it, does someone have to have a job to take up residence in Britain if they come from one of the new candidate countries? That would change things a little bit within the European Union because now an Austrian could move to Britain and take up residence without a job.

"An Austrian who had lots of money - you'd have to be very rich. You couldn't just come and live in Britain unless you had an income. It is work related. Our labour market is open, we haven't taken the position of other countries which have high unemployment because we have got a full employment economy, a successful economy, but the need to actually work to live in Britain is what is essential."