Almost exactly six years after countries in Central Europe and the Baltic States joined the European Union, many still complain about immigrants coming and taking jobs from citizens in the old EU. But there’s just no way to block it.

Prior to the 2004 enlargement, the affluent EU club decided that large numbers of immigrants would irritate voters, such as the now-famous Labour supporter Gillian Duffy, and negotiated transition periods with the poorer post-communist entrants.

The U.K. was among those EU members who wide opened their doors to workers from new-EU states. Others less enthusiastic countries followed suit over the years and now only Germany and Austria have transition periods still in place that block employment for citizens of the countries that joined in 2004.

Britain received the highest number of initial immigrants and most of them came to the country from Poland that is now the second-largest source of foreign workforce there, behind India.

Such a massive inflow usually leads to tensions, as is evident in Gillian Duffy’s comments that bewildered U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown so much Wednesday. Read More »