Worries over a new wave of emigration from Poland when the German and Austrian borders open fully in May 2011 - 4th October 2010

There are fears that another wave of Polish emigration will emanate from the Austrian and German borders opening fully in May 2011.

In both countries a work permit is currently needed before someone can start to work there but that will change from next year. It is feared that the relaxation of the rules will lead to many highly-skilled Polish workers leaving their home country, especially for Germany, where wages are much higher.

Germany is seeing its economy recover and unemployment fall and, with over 400,000 Polish workers already working in the country, that figure is expected to double after May next year. There is concern that the effects on the Polish economy will be worse than in 2004 when Poland joined the EU and approximately two million Polish workers moved away to work; however most left for low-skilled jobs and many have since returned home to Poland.

The Polish Ministry of Labour is optimistic that there will not be a repeat of the large-scale emigration seen earlier this decade. A statement from the ministry said that the Polish economy is developing and employment and pay are both rising. It added: “Next year there will be no economic premises for an increased wave of emigration, nor increases in returns from emigration.”

That view was supported by a separate study by the Polish Central Statistical Office, which found that at the end of 2009 nearly two million Polish citizens were temporarily residing outside the country, a figure that was down on the year before and is thought to be attributable to the economic situation in most of Europe which has left Poles less likely to be interested in moving abroad. Great Britain, Germany, Ireland and Italy are the countries with the biggest number of Polish immigrants.