Free movement of workers, with restrictions for Albania? - EU: Member States can impose temporary obstacles. Decision not final
Albania's legislation is partially aligned with that of the European Union in the areas of free movement of workers, services, capital and financial services. As regards company law, intellectual property law, competition policy and consumer protection, the EU considers that the legislation is more harmonised, although there is still work to be done.
The European Union has made public its position on the negotiations with Albania regarding the second group of chapters of the Internal Market. The Union underlines that the general principles of chapter 2 on access to the labour market, i.e. the right to enter, reside and work freely in the European Union, are partially approximated.
It should be noted that the free movement of workers does not only refer to the right of Albanians to work without any obstacles in the Member States of the European Union, but also refers to the freedom of European citizens to be employed in Albania. Albania should ensure that by the time of accession, citizens of EU Member States also enjoy the right to be employed in the public sector of Albania, excluding specific positions.
However, with the entry into the EU, the free movement of workers is expected to cease to apply in the case of Albania, as Albanian workers will again face obstacles when they want to work in an EU country. The European Union states that when Albania becomes a member, some countries will not allow Albanian workers to have immediate access to their labor market. Member countries may impose temporary restrictions on Albanians who want to enter their labor market. However, this is not a final decision, as the document emphasizes that the European Union will return to this issue in the further stages of the negotiations.
Such restrictions were also imposed on Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia when they became part of the European Union a few years ago.
The European Union has also set several closing milestones, i.e. several other conditions that must be met by Albania to close the negotiations for Chapter 2. The chapter on financial services has the largest number of closing milestones, meaning that more time will be needed to approximate Albania's legislation with that of the European Union in this area, while the chapter on the free movement of workers is the only one that has received only one closing milestone from the EU, which means that it will be simpler for Albania to close this chapter, according to the EU's previous position in the negotiations.
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