Enlargement fatigue

The EU is on track to take in Bulgaria and Romania in a year or two, regardless of whether the Commission decides today to delay its recommendation on the issue. Some EU countries, such as France and Germany, are experiencing enlargement fatigue, but this can't be said of the CR, where the issue rarely comes up. The most talkative Czech on the issue is Labor Commissioner Vladimír Špidla. He told an incredulous FAZ that fears of an influx of cheap labor from new EU lands are unfounded, because foreign workers follow the jobs, create new demand, pay taxes and strengthen the economy. Arbeit schafft Arbeit (jobs create jobs), he said. In the CR, relatively low unemployment and generous benefits have muffled the issue of foreign workers, but this could change if the CR meets its goal of catching up to the EU-15 economically. In a decade or so, Špidla might be giving his Arbeit schafft Arbeit talk to a skeptical Czech audience. [Czech Republic European Union Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitgung Sonntagszeitung]