On 9 December 2011, Croatia signed the Treaty of Accession to become the EU's 28th Member State and formally joined the EU on 1 July 2013. While this has obvious major ramifications for Europe and the EU as a whole, it also has a direct impact on Irish employers and their compliance with the employment permits system. Importantly, a Croatian National does not require an employment permit to work in Ireland as of 1 July 2013.
Treaty of Accession Restrictions
The 2011 Treaty of Accession did permit Ireland to impose restrictions on Croatian nationals’ access to the Irish employment markets:
- For a two year period EU Member States could choose to restrict the right of Croatians to work in their country, or in particular sectors.
- These arrangements will be reviewed after two years, with Member States allowed to extend national measures for a further period of up to three years.
- After the five year period a Member State could further again extend the restrictions for 2 years but only where it could be shown that removing the restrictions would lead to serious disturbances to the labour market or where there would be a threat of such disruption.
Familiar employers may recognise that similar restrictions existed in Ireland up until July 2012 for Romanian and Bulgarian nationals. However, the Irish Government, through the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (the DJEI), have outlined that these restrictions will not be imposed on Croatian nationals, the reasons for this being outlined below.
Why No Restrictions?
Having assessed the matter, the DJEI considered the possible impact on the labour market and determined that no restrictions were required for Croatian workers for the following reasons:
Firstly
It is highly unlikely that significant numbers of Croatians wish to migrate to Ireland:
- Ireland’s current economic status will not attract many Croatian workers.
- As migration is heavily influenced by an existing migrant presence, Croatians are unlikely to target Ireland as the 2011 Census showed only 846 Croatian nationals resident in Ireland.
- There is a very low tendency for Croatians to emigrate. A Gallup survey undertaken in 2010 suggests that the numbers of Croatians with firm intentions of leaving Croatia are relatively low (only 0.1% of the adult population) and Ireland did not feature as a target destination.
- In 2012, only 12 employment permits were issued in respect of Croatian nationals.
Secondly
The size of Croatia’s labour force is relatively small with a total labour force of 1.78 million with some 350,000 people in the 25-34 age group (generally the most mobile demographic of a country’s population).
Thirdly
Experience suggests that opening access to the Irish labour market may not have a significant impact on the State’s services.
Fourthly
Croatians, given their EU status, would be able to set up a business in Ireland and if restrictions were in place then confusingly they would not be allowed to be an employee of their own business. This would create a fear and real risk of undeclared work and tax avoidance.
Fifthly
It was noted that Ireland has an excellent relationship with Croatia and it is important that this relationship is developed further for the benefit of both countries.
Conclusion
In summary, if a Croatian national applies for a job vacancy within your organisation, you can now be safe in the knowledge that such a worker does not require an employment permit.
Employers should seek advice from Peninsula Business Services if they have any questions in respect of any non-national employees or job candidates and should also seek advice on employment permit queries in general. Please phone the 24 Hour Advice Service on 01 855 50 50 and one of our experienced consultants will be happy to assist.
