The Netherlands will not open its borders to people from Romania and Bulgaria who do not have a work permit as from next January as earlier planned, news agency ANP reported at the weekend.

Social affairs minister Piet Hein Donner has delayed the move – until July 1 at least – because of the financial crisis and pending more action to weed out illegal employment agencies, ANP said.
But Donner also said he wants action to solve the shortage of farm and bulb field workers, the sector where eastern Europeans traditionally work.
The country’s major cities have been urging Donner for a delay in opening the borders, arguing that they need more time to make sure they can cope with the expected influx of foreign workers.
Rotterdam council in particular has complained that eastern Europeans, especially Poles, are forming new ghettos in some parts of the city.
MPs have also been calling for a delay.
There are an estimated 100,000 eastern Europeans working in the Netherlands, mostly from Poland.