Workers from the European Union’s new entrants will gain easier access to jobs in the bloc’s “old” member states from next week, but key labour markets in Germany, France and Italy will still be protected. By May 1, two years after the EU’s historic expansion into ex-communist eastern Europe, “old” members will have decided whether to keep curbs on job seekers from eight east European newcomers where wages and living standards are markedly lower. Finland, Portugal and Spain have said they will open their labour markets fully to the newcomers, joining Britain, Ireland and Sweden, which lifted restrictions from day one in 2004.

The Netherlands plans to open its market next January but that may not apply to all areas. The government has said if a sector of the economy sheds Dutch workers between May and next January, it would maintain a requirement for firms to look first for Dutch candidates.

In Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium, newcomers will still need to secure a work permit to get a job, but even those states may let in more workers in some areas, such as construction, health care or agriculture. Under the accession treaty, “old” member states can retain labour curbs on new entrants for up to seven years, with reviews after two and five years. EU officials say Luxembourg is likely to follow its bigger neighbours, but Athens is a mystery. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia joined the EU in 2004, adding about 75 million citizens to the bloc. Workers from the two Mediterranean islands do not face labour restrictions.

EU members will soon face a dilemma over how to treat workers from the economically poorer Bulgaria and Romania, which are due to join the bloc in 2007 or 2008.

As with the previous enlargement, the EU’s 25 members will be allowed to protect their job markets against a possible flood of workers from the two Balkan countries for up to seven years.

The study also said fears of a mass influx of cheap labour from the east did not materialise, although Austria and Germany have argued their job markets, along the old east-west border, would have been strained had they not introduced restrictions.