In France, interim roumanie workers can be found in the supermarkets of Carrefour and Auchan and at the plants of industrial giants Saint-Gobain, Renault and Airbus. But they also appear in hospitals, where they rank first among foreign physicians with a European degree. Their presence is due to a combination of factors: the shortage of French healthcare professionals, the fear of collapse in Romania and the desire of many to build a life in France.

But it is in hospitals specialised in anaesthetics-intensive care (9% of all Romanian physicians), radiology and medical imaging (10,4%) and the provision of psychiatric care in hospitals inherited from lunatic asylums that Romanian physicians can be found in greatest numbers. Their presence is not accidental: it illustrates the impact of globalisation on the international mobility of healthcare professionals.

While their work permit limits the time they can spend in France to a maximum of three years, most Romanian physicians interviewed are convinced that they will stay. Moreover, owning a property in France facilitates temporary returns for holidays and enables them to maintain the perspective of a hypothetical definitive return.

Employment Regulations: What Romanian Workers Need to Know Before Moving to France

Romania and Bulgaria, whose citizens are the majority of Roma migrants, became full members of the EU in 2007. But “transitional arrangements” mean that Roma remain subject to restrictions on employment until December 31, 2013. France is one of nine countries that require them to have a work permit to take up paid employment in any job other than self-employment.

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