Business applauds EU Migration
Business for New Europe welcomes the publication of IPPR’s report “Floodgates or Turnstiles?”, examining post-EU enlargement migration to and from the UK.
BNE is committed to EU enlargement, and recognises the benefits of the recent enlargement of the Union. The UK in particular has benefited from the migration following the enlargement of 2004. As well as the so-called ‘Polish plumber’, the UK’s labour market has been boosted by Hungarians in hospitality, Estonian engineers, Czech caterers and Slovakian scientists.
While the government under-estimated the numbers of people coming here from eastern Europe, many people over-estimated the projected negative impacts. The migration has been an economic success. The report shows that the migrants are young and work hard and very few claim any state benefits. It is estimated that 40,000 Polish entrepreneurs have set up businesses in the UK, and that the ‘Polish pound’ is worth more than £4 billion per year to the UK economy.
BNE Chairman Roland Rudd said:
“Free movement of people is an essential pillar of the European Union. Just as goods and services can travel freely across the Union, so people should be able to do the same. The EU’s policy of enlargement has expanded opportunities for travel and work.
The enlargements of the EU to eastern Europe have reinvigorated not only the joining member states but also the established member states too.
The UK was one of only three member states which immediately opened its labour market to Eastern European workers, and it has benefited from this bold move. In fact, many member states, which did not immediately open their labour markets, have reversed their policies to allow workers in from Eastern Europe.
The prospect of further migration from Eastern Europe which triggers economic growth is a cause for celebration. We would like to see the UK lifting labour market restrictions on workers from Bulgaria and Romania.”
Richard Cousins, CEO of Compass plc and an Advisory Council member of Business for New Europe said:
“EU enlargement has enabled companies to tap into the rich and diverse labour, which in turn is a significant factor in being able to provide a quality service whilst remaining competitive. In recent years the hospitality sector has experienced a shortage of labour in local markets and without the additional labour from EU countries we would have found it difficult to fill these vacancies.
At Compass we employ 120,000 people across the European Union and within that our UK & Ireland business employs 75,000 people, of which 3.2% are from countries that became members of the EU in 2004.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
1. Business for New Europe (BNE) is an independent coalition of business leaders articulating a positive case for reform in Europe. For further information, see www.bnegroup.org
2. Business for New Europe and Compass plc are partners on the IPPR’s Economics of Migration project.
3. For full details of the report see the IPPR’s website – www.ippr.org
4. For further information, please call Business for New Europe on 020 7256 6575 or 07787 513 864.
