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Archived Articles
Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Blocking immigration in Eastern Europe
On April 11th the European Commission proposed the so-called "flexible transitional arrangements for the free movement of workers". If approved by the EU countries' governments (the approval is simply a matter of time and of bureaucratic procedures) this will mean in reality that the citizens of the new member states of the Union will have to wait up to 7 years before being allowed to operate freely in the other member states*. As we already have noticed in our previous article about the office market in Budapest, this proposal was inspired by two of the EU members - Germany and Austria. Standing at the crossroad between the Eastern and Western parts of the continent, these two countries will inevitably become a prime target for all those who want to escape the misery of their home countries. So we speak about 5 to 7 years, which will begin not earlier than in 2004 when the first group of countries** enter the Union. For some of them (Cyprus and Malta) there will be no transitional periods whatsoever. For the others, it will be terminated in 2006. For the last remaining (Bulgaria and Romania) which expect to become full members in 2006-2007, that will mean to wait up to 2013-2014. In this transitional periods the citizens of these countries will have a right to visit the western parts of the continent as tourists but won't have right to work. So what will be the consequences of this EU proposal (almost a decision) on the real estate market in Eastern Europe? First of all, this decision will mean almost certainly that the new member states will introduce the identical measures against West European citizens. Less western Europeans is equal to less investments in general and less investments on the real estate market in particular. Thus, every year of this transitional period will mean one more year of transition towards the more developed real estate market. Second, by restricting the free movement of workers between East and West, EU is limiting the abilities of at least some Eastern countries to develop the real estate market by their own means. Remember, the country in Central Europe with the largest immigrant communities in Western Europe and the USA - Poland, has also the most developed real estate market in the region in terms of prices, rents and annual yields on investments. Thus by restricting the free movement of workers, EU is halting one auxiliary mean of pushing ahead the local markets. The last but not least, this decision will slow down the transfer between the West and the East in the matter of real estate expertise. Western companies will be forced to hire local staff without proper qualifications, then will have to invite some of the people in their western head-quarters and then will have to hope that their new skills will be properly applied in a new soil. All this will mean at least a waste of time and money which will have a negative effect on the real estate market development. * - The European proposed a general transition period for 5 years with an automatic review after no more than 2 years. Then EU may decide to shorten or lift the transition period. One further optional additional review per country may be held at the request of a member state (current or new) with a view to further relaxation of controls. The general transition period ends after 5 years. In the case of serious disturbances in its labor market, any member state may impose restriction on foreign workers for a further maximum period of 2 years. ** - The total number of candidate states for EU membership so far has reached 13 (including Turkey). --------------------
See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Europe.
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