LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), June 11 (SeeNews) – The Dutch government decided on June 8 to lift the labour restrictions imposed on workers from Croatia, Croatia's ministry of foreign and European affairs said.
The decision grants to the Croatian workers the same rights on the Dutch labour market which the citizens of the other EU member states have, the ministry said in a statement over the weekend.
The restrictions have been in force since 2013, on the basis of the EU accession treaty signed by Croatia. Croatia will reciprocate by lifting the restrictions on the access of Dutch workers to its labour market.
Among EU countries, restrictions on Croatian workers are still in place in Austria, Slovenia and the UK. The UK, however, announced in March that Croatian citizens will have the same rights on the UK labour market as the citizens of the other EU member states from July 1.
On the other hand, Slovenia's government adopted in March a draft bill to keep the country's market closed to Croatian employees for a further two years, until June 30, 2020.
According to the EU's free movement treaty, EU citizens are entitled to look for a job in another EU country, work there without needing a work permit, reside there for that purpose, stay there even after employment has finished and enjoy equal treatment with nationals in access to employment, working conditions and all other social and tax advantages.