Finland will not continue to apply transition periods for free movement of workers

Finland will cease to apply transition periods for free movement of workers of the new member states of the European Union.

The restrictions applied to work permits for workers coming from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and the Slovak Republic will end. Cyprus and Malta are two new member states of the EU to which transition periods have not been applied. There are no plans to apply transition periods to the citizens of Bulgaria and Rumania when these countries become EU member states. No significant increase is expected in regard to foreign labour force entering Finland.

The Finnish Parliament is currently dealing with the matter of registration obligation to be applied to workers from the new EU member states. The purpose of registration is to improve the statistics on and monitoring of the labour force moving between Finland and the other member states of the EU.

The registration obligation will not restrict the mobility of the labour force nor will it be applied to brief employment relationships. Registration is not a precondition for beginning to work in Finland. Neglecting to register oneself is not intended to be punishable. The intention is for the law to be in effect for a set term of three years. The law is due to come into effect at the earliest in June.


For more information, please contact:

Director Mervi Virtanen, Ministry of Labour, tel. 010 60 48020, Email: [email protected].