Bulgaria belongs to the group of EU countries which insist on penalization of employers who hire illegal immigrants, the Bulgarian National Radio announced. Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Belgium, Austria and Romania are the other countries which take a clear stand for such tough approach and for more intense inspections of companies which often use practices of that kind. Another group of countries, with Germany in the lead, prefer a more balanced approach which involves fines and other administrative penalties for such employers.

The Bulgarian Minister of Interior Mihail Mikov was explicit that such practice deformed the labour market and deprived the tax and insurance system of incomes which it was in great need of. The discussion on the proposed by France Pact on Immigration, which aims to harmonize the rules applicable in Member States, is still in its initial stage and will continue over the next months.