Austria ready for opening up of labour markets: minister

(VIENNA) - Austria is well prepared for the opening up of its labour market to its eastern European neighbours and expects the influx of jobseekers to be manageable, Labour Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer said Monday.

Austria and Germany are to open up their labour markets fully to EU newcomer countries from May 1. And Hundstorfer suggested that some 50,000 people -- primarily from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary -- could come to Austria seeking work over the next two years.

"The number of people who we're expecting to try to enter the (Austrian) labour market is a maximum 25,000-26,000" per year, the minister told a news conference to mark the publication of a new study by the WIFO think-tank.

In three of Austria's immediate neighbours, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, only 0.4 percent of the working population have said they would be prepared to relocate to Austria to work, or to commute regularly, the study showed.

Slovenia is another immediate neighbour, but given its small population of only around two million people, and its better economic position compared to other eastern member states, it is unlikely to play a major role in potential immigration to Austria, according to the study's author Klaus Nowotny.

Germany is likely to be more attractive to eastern European workers given the size of its labour market and also for geographical reasons, WIFO suggested.

"Austria is well-prepared for the opening up" of its labour market, minister Hundstorfer said.