As of January 1st this year, Romanians and Bulgarians are now free to work anywhere in the European Union. The Bavarian conservative party, the CSU, has expressed concern that the lifting of labor restrictions could lead to poverty migration, with job seekers flooding into Germany.
Advertisement
The party called for new measures aimed at preventing so-called "benefit tourism". But the statistics suggest the fears are completely unfounded. Of the Romanians and Bulgarians already living in Germany, only a small percentage live on welfare.
