Downing Street Says » EU Accession Immigration

Asked if the Prime Minister would be meeting other members of the Cabinet to discuss the terms of immigration from EU Accession countries the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that since it was a cross-departmental issue journalists shouldn’t be surprised that there were various meetings going on. However he was not going to highlight any particular one of them and it was wrong to do so. This was an issue on which the Government’s position was very clear. As of May 1st people from Accession countries will have a right to travel throughout the EU and that applied not just to this country but also to other countries such as Germany, Italy and France. The question therefore was whether you allowed people to seek work in a country such as the UK which has virtually full employment and where, as the CBI had highlighted, there were skill shortages, while at the same time safeguarding the UK against benefit shopping and against changing circumstances. That was the balance that we had to strike, that was what Ministers were discussing and that was what we would address when we make our announcement at the appropriate time.

Asked if the Government was considering an increase in managed migration, the PMOS said that the Government was in favour of managed migration and always had been. The need for it was highlighted by the skills shortages identified by the CBI and was, as he had said at an earlier briefing not just a problem in the South-East but in Scotland as well. There was an issue about how you made sure that there was the right supply of skills that the economy needed. That was an issue in its own right as was safeguarding the position in terms of benefits and also making sure that if circumstances were to change we could deal with any problems that arose. Asked if that was retreating from the Government’s original position concerning the ‘right to work’, the PMOS said no. The right to work was one that we recognised and we believed was right. In terms of detail journalist would have to wait until an announcement was made.

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» Monday, February 16, 2004

EU Accession Immigration

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