The same sources said that by midnight Tuesday notifications were submitted by Austria, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Slovenia and Malta, stating that they would keep restrictions for Croatian workers.
Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain have not submitted their notifications to the Commission by midnight Tuesday, so the transitional period is automatically lifted.
The two-year transition period which 13 EU member states imposed for Croatian workers expired at midnight on Tuesday. After that, each country will individually decide whether to extend the transitional period by another three years, namely until 30 June 2018 (with the possibility of extending it by another two, ending on 30 June 2020), or to fully open their labour markets to Croatian nationals.
Restrictions for Croatian workers in the five countries that decided to keep them does not mean that Croatians cannot work in those countries but that they need a working visa.