EU labour commissioner Vladimir Szpidla told a news conference that the free flow of workers is one of the basic freedoms within the EU. He adde that the economy benefits from such a
flow. The countries in question will be required to inform the EC by end-April 2009 whether they intend to extend the period of restrictions. If they decide to keep the restrictions in force, they will need to justify the
move quoting 'serious labour market disruptions' that the lifting of the ban would cause. Germany and Austria have indicated they are likely to extend the transition period until 2011, the maximum period envisaged in the accession treaty, TVN24 reports.