WRITTEN QUESTION E-0048/03 by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Conditions surrounding the freedom of movement of citizens of the applicant countries following accession.
Date: 2003-01-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: accession to the European Union, derogation from EU law, free movement of workers, job access, labour market, transitional period (EU)

C 58 E/12

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.3.2004

(2004/C 58 E/012)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0048/03

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(21 January 2003)

Subject: Conditions surrounding the freedom of movement of citizens of the applicant countries following

accession

A number of Member States have indicated that acceptance of enlargement is conditional upon restricted
rights of movement for citizens of applicant countries for a transitional period of seven years after
accession in May, 2004. By contrast, a number of Member States, including the United Kingdom, Ireland,
Denmark, Sweden and Greece, have indicated that they will not seek to impose any restrictions.

Can the Commission confirm that under the proposals agreed with the applicant countries at the recent
summit in Copenhagen that those Member States such as Germany and Austria which have indicated that
they wish to impose restrictions will have the option of relaxing them during the transitional period and
that those Member States which have indicated otherwise will have the option of imposing restrictions
during the transitional period should they find it necessary or desirable to do so?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(13 February 2003)

During accession negotiations the following measures related to the free movement of workers from new
into current Member States have been agreed for all acceding countries, except Malta and Cyprus. It should
be stressed that these measures will only apply to free movement of salaried workers, and that in relation
to other categories of citizens (self-employed, students, inactive or retired people), Community provisions
regarding right to free movement and residence will apply from the day of accession. There is a minor
exception relating to the transnational provision of services involving the temporary movement of workers
into Germany and Austria.

For the first two years after accession, the current Member States will admit workers from the future
Member States under national rules, rather than under Community rules on free movement. Current
Member States may completely liberalise access to their labour markets during these two years, but under
national, not Community, law.

Two years after accession, the Commission will report on the situation and the current Member States will
have to announce whether they intend to continue with national measures for the remaining three years of
the main transitional period, or whether they intend to apply Community rules on the free movement of
workers. For the moment the Commission has not received any official information from current Member
States in this respect. The Commission expects that only few Member States will continue to restrict access
to the labour market, while in other current Member States, citizens from the future Member States would
be totally free to get a job. Those Member States would only maintain a ‘safeguard’; this means that they
could,
in cases of unexpected disturbance on the labour market, or in some region or profession,
re-introduce restrictions temporarily.

Those current Member States which decide, at the end of the first two years, to maintain restrictions, may
do so for a further three years. At any time during this three year period a current Member State may
notify the Commission that it intends to stop applying national restrictions. In any event, at the end of that
three years period, the transitional period is foreseen to end and the Community rules on free movement
of workers will apply.

However, in case of serious disturbances in the labour market, or a threat of such disturbances, Member
States may prolong their national policies for a further two years.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Furthermore, a standstill clause will apply, whereby access to current Member State labour markets by
workers from the new Member States cannot be more restricted than that prevailing at the time of the
signature of the Accession Treaty. Current Member States must give preference to nationals of the new
Member States over non-Community labour.

In addition, Germany and Austria have the right to apply flanking national measures to address serious
disturbances or the threat thereof, in specific sensitive service sectors (such as construction or industrial
cleaning) on their labour markets, which could arise in certain regions from cross-border provision of
services involving the movement of workers.

A declaration to the Accession Treaty states that current Member States shall endeavour to grant increased
labour market access under national law, with a view to speeding up the approximation to the acquis and
even an encouragement to improve access before accession.

These transitional arrangements allow maximum flexibility to the current Member States to admit workers
from the new Member States, whether under national rules or under Community law on the free
movement of workers.

(2004/C 58 E/013)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0259/03

by Elspeth Attwooll (ELDR) to the Commission

(5 February 2003)

Subject: Telephone numbers in Gibraltar

Would the Commission please indicate whether or not the allocation of telephone numbers by Spain to
Gibraltar is in conformity with European Community law? Could the Commission further explain its
attitude to the fact that whilst access from elsewhere in the world to Gibraltar is governed by an
international code, access from Spain to Gibraltar is governed by a Spanish provincial one?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(3 June 2003)

The situation referred to by the Honourable Member results from the refusal of Spain to recognise the
international direct dialling (IDD) codes assigned by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to
Gibraltar. Due to the lack of recognition by Spain, these IDD codes are not programmed in the switches of
Telefónica de España. To allow communications between Gibraltar and Spain, number ranges in the
Spanish numbering plan for the province of Cadiz have been reserved for operators outside of Spain.
All calls from Spain to Gibraltar are routed via the local area code of Cadiz.

The assignment and recognition of IDD codes is not specifically regulated at EC level. The legality of a
refusal to recognise an IDD code and the allocation of number ranges in a national numbering plan for
operators outside the relevant Member State can therefore only be assessed, on the one hand, under
Articles 49, 10 and 82 of the EC Treaty, and on the other hand, in the light of the numbering provisions
of the Services (1) and Interconnection Directives (2), as amended. The Commission has not taken a decision
yet on whether to pursue an infringement case under Articles 49, 10 and 82 of the EC Treaty, the
numbering provisions in Directive 90/388/EEC or the Community harmonisation rules (the ONP
framework), in particular the numbering provisions in Directive 97/33/EC.

(1) Commission Directive 90/388/EEC of 28 June 1990 on competition in the markets for telecommunications

services, OJ L 192, 24.7.1990.

(2) Directive 97/33/EC of

the Council of 30 June 1997 on interconnection in Tele-
communications with regard to ensuring universal service and interoperability through application of the principles
of Open Network Provision (ONP), OJ L 199, 26.7.1997.

the Parliament and of