As a Commission spokesperson has said, this is “a gross and totally irresponsible misrepresentation of the facts”.
What the report really says, among other things, is the following.
The 600 000 figure refers to non-active migrants, a category which includes as well as job seekers, older schoolchildren, students, retired people, people taking time out of the labour market to bring up children and other direct family members.
As a comparison, 43 % of the UK population aged between 15 and 64 – so at a conservative estimate 12 million people – is classified as non-active. Clearly no –one would seriously claim that there were 12 million unemployed people in the UK.
The Sunday Telegraph’s claim that there are 600 000 unemployed EU migrants is equally absurd.
Migrant workers from other Member States – not only in UK but EU-wide – pay more in taxes and social security than they receive in benefits and services – including health services – because they tend to be younger and more economically-active than host countries’ own workforce.
My Euromyth Buster campaign is building quite a following… with plenty of Europhiles and Eurosceptics getting involved in the debate at www.facebook.com/EuromythBuster. |
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