Labour migration remains in the black books

With the extension of the transitional measures for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens, the Federal Government is clearly admitting that it is not ready to allow this critically necessary work force into our labour market. In its recommendations, the Flemish Government asked Minister Milquet to open up our labour market, which means that they are advocating against the extension of the transitional measures. But the Federal Government is apparently of the opinion that the social inspection, residence legislation, the right to social assistance and the tackling of sham self-employment are not adequate enough to sustainably integrate Bulgarian and Romanian labour into our job market. Active labour and student migration therefore also remain in the Di Rupo government’s black books. The coalition agreement only states - on the N-VA’s initiative - that the labour and professional cards will be transferred to the federated entities, and that the latter will also be able to provide migrating students with a student card. However, no link between the cards and the right of residence was made. The active migrants will remain the victims of a policy full of administrative hurdles.