France seeks chefs, farmers from new EU members

PARIS, Apr 29 (Reuters) - France, which prides itself as the restaurant capital of the world, is opening its doors to chefs from EU member states to fill a staffing shortage in French kitchens.

The foreign ministry said yesterday it would relax labour market restrictions on May 1 for employees in certain sectors, as part of a plan to give workers from eight new member countries access to jobs in the rest of the Union.

''This partial lifting of the restrictions should give a new dynamic to the circulation of workers in the EU,'' the ministry said in a statement.

The measure will apply to workers in 61 trades from seven sectors of the economy where labour is in short supply.

Pig and rabbit farmers, chefs, masons, mechanics and cement makers were among the jobs on the list.

It did not include plumbers. French fears of being overrun by Polish plumbers, helped swing voters against a proposed new EU constitution in a referendum last year.

By May 1, two years after the EU's expansion into ex-communist eastern Europe, ''old'' members must decide whether to keep curbs on job seekers from the eight newcomers where wages and living standards are markedly lower.

Finland, Portugal and Spain have said they will open their labour markets fully to the newcomers, joining Britain, Ireland and Sweden which lifted restrictions from day one in 2004.

Under the accession treaty, ''old'' member states can retain labour curbs on new entrants for up to seven years with reviews after two and five years.

A recent European Commission report said Britain, Ireland and Sweden had benefited from opening their job markets, while countries that kept restrictions risked black markets, where people work illegally and pay no taxes.

REUTERS SHB VC0945