Approx. one million Romanians work in Germany either having a permanent or seasonal job

About 870,000 to 880,000 Romania workers who have a permanent job and around 180,000 to 190,000 seasonal workers are in Germany, Labour and Social Solidarity Minister Marius Budai told a press conference organized by the National Trade Union Bloc (BNS) on Thursday, together with the Faire Mobilitaet network, the DGB trade union confederation and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

"In Germany we are talking about 870-880,000 workers with a permanent job and around 180,000 - 190,000 seasonal workers. This is a very large number and we consider that the Romanian workers in Germany, and not only in Germany, in Europe, honour our country by directly contributing to the GDP of those countries," said Marius Budai.

The Minister of Labour added that he will soon pay a visit to Berlin. "I think it's very important that the relevant ministries - in this case the German Ministry of Labour and the Romanian Ministry of Labour - have a direct relationship. I recently signed such a collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Labour, and I'm going to Rome for the exact purpose of protecting the Romanian citizens who work in Italy," the Minister specified.

He underscored that the situation of Romanian workers in Germany is constantly monitored, while also mentioning the most common problems they face.

"We are constantly monitoring everything that is happening there: we have consulates, we have an embassy, we have a labour attache to the Ministry of Labor and, since I spoke of the an attache, I want to tell you that today I am accompanied by Secretary of State Cristian Vasilcoiu, representatives of the National Pension House, representatives of the Labour Inspectorate and representatives of the National Employment Agency, colleagues with whom I work and together we create those policies and those actions to help and protect the Romanian citizens working in the European Union, but who want to come back to Romania. We constantly monitor the situation of Romanian workers in the Federal Republic of Germany and we have information sent by our attache," said Marius Budai.

The Minister of Labour also mentioned that problems related to working conditions, safety rules, occupational health, non-compliance with the legal minimum wage in Germany or withholding of wages were reported.

"(...) We believe it's necessary that, and mandatory for us, to constantly monitor this activity and to constantly monitor the situation of our Romanians there and also not only to monitor, but also to find quick solutions to remedy their problems," the Minister specified.

He recalled that, in 2019, when Romania held the presidency of the Council of the European Union, the "file of what the European Labour Authority means" was finalized, which will ensure the protection of European cross-border workers. AGERPRES