Border Closed for Croatian Workers

Netherlands and Croatia will coöperate on the fight against exploitation of workers by unscrupulous employers and through pretense. Lodewijk Asscher, Minister of Social Affairs has discussed this and made a deal on Monday with the Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia, Neven Mimica. Asscher has, during the meeting on Monday in The Hague, also explained why the Netherlands will close the border for Croatian workers for two more years, even though the Croats are in principle entitled to go and work elsewhere in the EU from July 1, the day that Croatia will be part of the EU. The Netherlands makes use of the possibility to not allow that for the first two years. Croats will only be able to work, during the start up period, with a working permit from the UWV. Netherlands and Croatia will talk more in detail in the autumn, about the fight against exploitation by unscrupulous employers. Asscher warned earlier that the advent of cheap labor to the Netherlands may lead to deteriorating working conditions and salaries. Asscher wants to first ensure that Dutch workers get paid decently and that youth unemployment is reduced, before he allows Croats. Netherlands stopped before for several years, the arrival of Bulgarian and Romanian workers. But from January 1, they can work in the Netherlands without a UWV working permit.