§ Keith VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom's immigration policy in relation to applicant countries. [154481]
§ Beverley Hughes[holding answer 12 February 2004]: Under the Accession Treaty nationals from the 10 new member states joining the EU on 1 May will have the right to travel freely across the European Union allowing them to visit, live and study in any other member state.
The Treaty allows current member states to restrict freedom to work on eight of the 10 new member states for up to seven years from accession (Cyprus and Malta are exempt from the transition period).
In line with my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary's announcement to the House of Commons on Monday 23 February, the Government have decided to allow free movement to those who genuinely want to come and work here via a workers registration scheme. They will be required to be self-supporting while they look for work.
From 1 May, nationals of the new member states will be able to enter the UK through the EU channel at ports of entry. They will be admitted to the UK on production of their national identity card or passport.
Workers from Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic will be required to register with the Home Office as soon as they find work.
Once a national from one of these new member states has been lawfully working in the UK labour market for a continuous period of 12 months, they will gain full EU rights and will therefore no longer be subject to the workers registration scheme.
The remaining candidate countries (Bulgaria and Romania) are expected to join the EU by 1 January 2007, subject to meeting the EU acquis criteria. Until the date of accession, nationals from these countries will remain subject to full immigration control.