Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said on Wednesday the European Union should not expect a flood of Romanians leaving the country to find work in Western Europe after the Black Sea state joins the bloc, Reuters reported. Romania, along with southern neighbour Bulgaria, is due to join the EU in January 2007 but faces a possible one year delay if the bloc decides it needs more time to reform. In recent weeks, a debate has started in Britain over whether it should give free access to its job market to workers from Romania and Bulgaria, repeating the open door policy it had for other ex-communist states that joined the EU in 2004. Hundreds of thousands of east Europeans have sought work in Britain in the last two years, far exceeding original estimates. "Romania is facing a shortage of workers and companies are beginning to understand that economic reality shows better wages are a way to keep Romanians in the country," Tariceanu told a news conference. "At the moment I have to say it is not the phenomenon reports in the British press made it out to be ... We cannot talk about a real pressure on the British job market at the moment." Earlier this month, Britain said it had not yet decided on its policy towards countries in the next wave of EU enlargement. It is expected to make a decision after the European Commission's Sept. 26 report, which will recommend a 2007 or 2008 entry date for Romania and Bulgaria. Romania is one of the poorest of the former Soviet satellite states, with an average wage of about 200 euros ($257) a month. It has a jobless rate of about 5 percent, but analysts say the figure is probably an underestimate.
