Slovak Economy Minister Juraj Miškov (Freedom and Solidarity (SaS)) said he disapproves of the way Austria intends to open its labour market to Slovak citizens, the SITA newswire reported. At a meeting on Monday, April 4, with his Austrian counterpart Reinhold Mitterlehner the Slovak minister spoke about Slovakia's concerns over Austria's implementation of the EU directive on free movement of labour in the European Union.
Miškov expressed Slovakia's concerns about he called Austria's unwelcoming approach towards the EU Directive on Free Movement. While the Austrians are claiming that they only want to prevent 'salary dumping' from taking place, Miškov said he views Austria's measures as discrimination against people from other EU-member countries, as quoted by the TASR newswire. According to Miškov, the biggest problem consists in exorbitant fines for employers and undue administrative barriers for entrepreneurs which will come into effect after May 1, when the labour movement barriers are lifted in the EU.
The Slovak minister noted that the EU too might not like the Austrian law, which he said represents protection of its labour market. Meanwhile, the Austrian minister expressed an interest in resolving the issue at a bilateral level between Austria and Slovakia. However, Miškov responded that this was an EU-wide problem.
Sources: SITA, TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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