The EEA enlargement offers new opportunities for both new
and existing EU member states. Norway has stated that access
to the Norwegian labour market for workers from the new member
states will be as wide as possible, and this continues to be the
case. Labour market access will be considerably simplified from 1
May this year.
However, transitional rules will be
needed for a period of time to prevent possible negative
consequences for employment and welfare schemes in Norway, said
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Erna
Solberg.
The Government has discussed the
EEA enlargement and how far Norway should make use of the
transitional arrangements that are permitted under the enlargement
agreement.
- Most of the other EEA states are
making use of transitional arrangements. Norway cannot follow rules
that differ greatly from those that apply in neighbouring
countries. The Government has decided that Norway also needs
transitional arrangements to ensure that EEA enlargement and the
free movement of labour are experienced as positive developments,
said Erna Solberg. - The rules will nevertheless give workers
from the new EU member states considerably wider access to the
Norwegian labour market than is the case today. This is in line
with the Government’s desire to liberalise the rules for labour
migration. In the longer term, Norway will need a larger labour
force, said Solberg.
The Government’s proposal for
transitional rules means that there will still be a requirement for
workers from the new EU member states, with the exception of Cyprus
and Malta, to obtain work permits before starting to work in
Norway. Work permits will be issued for full-time employment at
normal rates of pay and under normal working conditions. Anyone who
can find a job that meets these requirements will be entitled to a
work permit. There will be no rules restricting the type of
employment a person may take or relating to employees’
qualifications other than those stipulated by the employer. A
proposal for transitional rules will be submitted to the Storting
before Easter, and the rules must be adopted by 1 May. This is the
date when both EEA and EU enlargement are to take place.
There are two main reasons why the
Government wishes to adopt transitional arrangements. The first is
that they can help to prevent social dumping and the negative
consequences this would have for employment and the business
sector. This is something that the social partners are also
concerned about. However, the Government believes that the greatest
challenges will be related to the provision of services and workers
brought to Norway by service providers to carry out tasks for
limited periods, for example at a building site. Free movement of
services will be introduced from the time of enlargement, without
any possibility of transitional rules. Other measures to prevent
social dumping may also be implemented. The Government will
continue the dialogue with the social partners on these issues, and
has invited them to a meeting about this on 20 February.
The second reason for introducing
transitional arrangements is that they can moderate labour
immigration in the first few years and thus reduce the pressure on
welfare schemes created by employees from EEA countries. This
consideration has also been important for a number of EU member
states.
The transitional rules are intended
to ensure that people who come to Norway have jobs that they and
their families can live on, said Minister of Local Government and
Regional Development Erna Solberg. This means that it is not enough
to work for only ten hours a week, which according to the European
Court of Justice is enough to be considered as an employee with the
right to full social benefits.
A working group, representatives
from nine ministries, has reviewed all relevant welfare schemes,
such as unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, family allowance
and housing benefits. Their report stresses that most individual
benefits, which are designed on the basis of the normal income
levels and the cost of living in Norway, can on certain conditions
be paid to people resident in other EEA states. Many of these
schemes will seem very generous in other countries, and this means
that there is a risk that they may be abused or used in unintended
ways. Several control measures have recently been implemented or
are being planned, but these need to be continually evaluated, and
better registration routines and better exchange of information
between administrative bodies are also needed. The working group
did not propose any general changes, but recommended that a review
of how the welfare schemes are working after enlargement should be
made at the beginning of next year.
- The Government is not proposing
any changes in specific welfare schemes at present, said Erna
Solberg. - There is plenty of time to evaluate the consequences of
enlargement and see whether these will make it necessary to adjust
any of the schemes to make them more robust and more clearly
targeted. The control routines will be made more stringent.
In addition to the transitional
arrangements, the Government is proposing to extend the requirement
for EEA nationals on short-term contracts to register with the
relevant authorities. The Immigration Act is to be amended to
provide the legal authority to intervene in the event of serious
disturbances of the labour market as a result of increased
immigration from the new EU member states. A safeguard mechanism of
this kind will be particularly relevant if Norway decides to repeal
the transitional arrangements before the end of the seven-year
transitional period.
