If the UK introduced restrictions on Bulgarian migrant workers, the restrictions would be insignificant and temporary, said Gary Titley, the head of the Party of European Socialists delegation in the European Parliament (EP), as quoted by Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).

Speaking at a news conference in Sofia on October 15, Titley said that the UK government wanted the free movement of workers in the EU to continue.

Statements that many Bulgarians would emigrate to the EU after Bulgaria enters the EU were nonsense, Titley said. The higher the number of Bulgarians that went to the UK, the better, he said, because they would spend their money in the UK.

The UK was among the few EU countries that opened their labour market after the EU enlargement in 2004. Nearly half a million migrant workers had arrived in the UK since then, Titley said.

Titley said that an increase in prices in Bulgaria was possible, but would not arise from the country’s EU accession. Ordinary Bulgarians should not expect major changes, he said.

Bulgaria’s EU accession would give the country’s people a better quality of life, a stronger economy and higher security, according to Titley.