Nederlandse arbeidsmarkt blijft wellicht gesloten voor werknemers nieuwe lidstaten (en)

Within the Dutch government, a discussion has arisen on whether to allow labourers from new EU member states to enter the Dutch labour market.

Gerrit Zalm, the Dutch Finance Minister, stated publicly on Monday (17 November) that the Netherlands must protect its labour market to avoid being "flooded" with cheap labour force from countries like Poland.

According to the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, Mr Zalm said at a party meeting of his right-liberal party VVD: "If Germany, for example, decides to temporarily close its labour market for Polish employees, then they will come to the Netherlands".

So far, the Netherlands has been one of the EU countries to have indicated that they will open their labour markets immediately in May 2004, when 10 new countries join the Union.

Germany and Austria, however, have already announced severe restrictions on labour immigration from the new member states in the first years following EU enlargement.

It is unclear, however, whether Mr Zalm's comments mark a change of the Dutch government position.

Last Friday, the Dutch state secretary for European affairs, Adzo Nicolaï, said that a sudden policy shift would be very hard to sell abroad.

"We would have to explain quite a lot to Brussels and to the candidate member states", Mr Nicolaï said according to the daily De Volkskrant.

During a visit by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende to the Polish capital Warsaw on 28 October, rumours about a closure of the Dutch labour market were denied by the Prime Mininster's staff.

In the Dutch parliament, a majority of parties are demanding the closure of the Dutch labour market until at least 2006.

Like Mr Zalm, the Christian Democrats (CDA), the right-liberal VVD and the right-wing List Pim Fortuyn fear an influx of cheap labour power, particularly from Poland and Latvia.

These parties argue that Dutch unemployment is rising rapidly and that more immigration would make it even more difficult for the Dutch to find work.

According to De Volkskrant, Liberal MP Arno Visser said on Friday: "We do not need a flow of cheap labourers, now that the number of unemployed people in the Netherlands is increasing by several thousand every month".

This week, the three parties are expected to further pressure the Cabinet while debating the accession treaty of the 10 new EU member states.