Britain should open its door to more EU workers, Belgian MPs today urged.
They called on European nations to encourage more “mobility” in the EU, particularly among young people.
The Belgian House of Representatives told a Lords inquiry into youth unemployment that dole queues in “one country [have] a negative impact for the whole union”.
It said: “Mobility, in particular for young people, should be encouraged.
“Studying and working in another country is an enriching experience and helps the functioning of the EU labour market as a whole.” But senior Tory backbencher Peter Bone criticised the Belgian parliamentarians’ vision of the EU.
“It’s a very clear indication of the difference between the European elite’s view of the EU and our view,” he said.
“Belgium thinks of itself as a province of a European superstate while we are a proud, independent, sovereign country that wants to control our own borders.”
The Home Office is exploring a cap of 75,000 on the number of EU migrants to the UK. Downing Street is stressing that all jobseekers from the EU will have to wait for three months from their arrival in the UK before they can apply to claim out-of-work benefits.
