The British Opposition leader Ed Miliband, who is at the helm of the Labour Party, believes that a maximum seven-year employment ban should be imposed on Croatian workers in Great Britain upon Croatia's accession to the European Union in mid-2013.
In his interview with the Guardian, Miliband said that while being in power Labour was too quick to dismiss the concerns of ordinary people as prejudiced regarding their attitudes towards foreign workers, but reforming the labour market won't be easy.
"Miliband admitted the Labour government allowed too many immigrants from eastern Europe into the country by lifting controls on EU accession countries such as Poland too quickly, but denied his party lied about immigration, as claimed by his former adviser Lord Glasman," the Guardian wrote.
Miliband's proposal not to open the border to EU newcomers can also refer to Croatia, which is due to join the bloc on 1 July 2013.
"Although government evidence shows that 370,000 people who came to the country as foreign nationals are claiming benefits, Miliband pointed out that proportionately fewer migrants were claiming benefits than in the UK labour force."
According to the daily, one of the steps in the Labour immigration policy is to "impose maximum transitional controls for 7 years on the future EU accession countries such as Croatia. No change to free movement of labour within EU."
