Belgium will lift labor restrictions on workers from eight eastern European countries from May 1. Emillie Rosson, the spokesperson of the ministry of labor confirmed to Polish Radio in Brussels that the move was decided by senior members of the government this month and is expected to be announced next week.

As a result, citizens of Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia will be allowed to work to Belgium from next month, five years after their countries joined the European Union.

As of May 1 job restrictions on citizens of the countries that joined the bloc in 2004 will also be lifted in Denmark. Germany and Austria are the only EU member states to have kept restrictions on their job markets. (di)