The European Commission has accepted the request made by Spain to restrict the access of Romanian workers to its labour market until December 31st 2012. This measure is mainly due to the effect that these migration flows are having in the Spanish labour market, which is experiencing the highest rate of unemployment in the European Union.

The decision taken by the European Commission authorizes Spanish government to temporarily implement restrictions on access to its labour market to Romanian workers. These measures to be implemented until December 31st 2012 will apply to activities in all sectors and regions in Spanish market. However, they will not affect Romanian nationals who are already active on the Spanish labour market.

The measures are based on the current economic situation being experienced by Spain, which is has registered the highest unemployment rate in the EU in June 2011 reaching 21%. Moreover, the Commission also took into account the fact that Romanian nationals living in Spain are strongly affected by unemployment and that approximately 30% of them are unemployed.

The temporary nature of this measure is due to the fact that, although the Act of Accession of Romania to the European Union of 2005 provides for transitional measures concerning the free movement of persons to be postponed until the end of 2013, Spain has already opened its labour market to all EU citizens. Therefore, any restrictions on the free movement of workers should be raised as an exception.

According to the evolution of the situation, the Commission will take appropriate action to maintain or revoke the measure. Meanwhile, the Commission will report this decision to the Council and Member States may submit comments and request for modification or cancellation within two weeks.