President Nicholas Sarkozy promised Wednesday to open up the French labour market to workers from the European Union's eastern countries, except Romania and Bulgaria, as from July 1, according to dpa. Such a move was necessary in order to strengthen Europe, he said after meeting his Polish counterpart Lech Kaczynski in Warsaw. The news was greeted positively in Brussels. "I warmly welcome the fact that the French government has reconsidered the restrictions on free movement of workers in force since May 2004," said Vladimir Spidla, European commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities. "Fully opening the job market to citizens of the eight member states from Central and Eastern Europe will bring benefits to the economy and to the country as a whole," Spidla added. Officials in Brussels said the migration flows following the 2004 enlargement had had positive economic effects in those countries which did not impose restriction on the free movement of workers from new EU countries, noting that fears of a mass invasion of Polish plumbers had failed to materialize. Of the EU's old member states, only Britain, Ireland and Sweden immediately opened their labour markets in 2004. But since then, they have been joined by Finland, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Following France's decision to drop its barriers, only Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Germany will continue to apply restrictions. France, which takes over the rotating presidency of the EU from Slovenia on July, would also try to forge closer links between the European Union and Ukraine, Sarkozy said in Warsaw. Poland has been lobbying for closer ties between Ukraine and the EU and NATO. Poland and France also signed an agreement for "a strategic partnership," signalling a thaw in relations that became frosty under Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, not least because of differences over the Iraq war. Poland supported the US-led invasion in 2003, but France was strongly opposed to it. Sarkozy, who was also due to meet Prime Minister Donald Tusk and address parliament during his day-long visit, has been seeking to improve relations with Poland and other nations in central and eastern Europe.
