The European Commission indicated that it will impose tough new immigration restrictions on countries that join the EU.
The commission said it will now consider the need for new “transitional measures” when a country joins the EU.
It could also create a “safeguard mechanism” that countries like the UK could use to restrict immigration in the event of a large influx of immigrants, like the one seen when Poland joined the EU in 2004.
It is the first time the commission has confirmed the problem needs to be addressed following a backlash across Europe after a surge in migration from poor eastern European countries.
It will come as a major boost to the Prime Minister, David Cameron, ahead of his bid to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the EU before holding an in-out referendum in 2017.
Mr Cameron has previously threatened to use the UK’s veto to prevent new countries like Albania joining the EU unless the issue of transitional controls is addressed.
Downing Street on Wednesday welcomed the concession by the commission and said it was a “success” and showed “good progress in getting the debate going”.
Mr Cameron has previously suggested that migrants from poor countries that join the European Union should be banned from moving to Britain, David Cameron has suggested.
The Prime Minister earlier has said that unrestricted immigration should only be allowed from countries that have a similar level of wealth to the UK.
Mr Cameron believes that new restrictions are needed to avoid a repeat of the “mistake” of allowing 1.5 million immigrants from Poland and Eastern Europe to come to Britain in 2004.
The restrictions would apply to new members of the European Union such as Turkey, Albania, Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia, which are all seeking to join the bloc.
David Lidington, the Conservative Europe minister said: “We recognise that many across Europe have been concerned by the large-scale movement of people that has followed the accession of new countries to the EU and this issue needs to be addressed before any more members join. This is a debate the Prime Minister initiated last year and I am pleased that the Commission has taken it up.”
New “transitional measures” would allow Britain and other countries to impose immigration restrictions on new EU countries for beyond the seven year period used for Romania and Bulgaria in 2007.
New restrictions could potentially last for over 10 years or be linked, as Mr Cameron has suggested, to economic progress in the new EU members state.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the new commission president, has promised that there will be no new EU enlargement until after 2019.
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