Migration from Bulgaria and Romania to the UK

Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007. At the end of this year, the seven-year transitional restrictions on the access of Bulgarian and Romanian nationals to the UK labour market will be lifted. Bulgarian and Romanian nationals will be able to settle and take up employment in any country of the EU (as any other EU nationals can settle and take up employment in any other country of the EU). This commentary discusses factors that matter for the assessment of the impacts of potential future migration from Bulgaria and Romania to the UK and explains that, although it is difficult to predict future migration flows, both numbers and impacts are likely to be manageable.