Local Conservative MEP Vicky Ford is questioning the European Commission about how it will address crucial migration issues once restrictions on workers from Romania and Bulgaria are lifted at the end of this year.
The East of England MEP raised a series of important issues in a formal parliamentary question to the Commission today tabled under the "urgency" procedure.
A number of observers and research groups have raised concerns about a potential influx of workers from the two new EU states once the "Schengen" single-border area is expanded to include them next January.
Mrs Ford stressed that the issue had been repeatedly raised by members of the public recently as she toured workplaces and residential areas in the East of England.
After submitting the question, Mrs Ford said: "The agreement to allow free movement to Romanians and Bulgarians was made by Tony Blair and cannot now be changed. In the East of England we have long traditions of welcoming migrants for work, but we have also seen the huge pressures that unplanned migration can put on local services. My constituents are genuinely anxious about what 2014 could bring. How can one be prepared without estimates?
"In the past, estimates from the UK side were hopelessly inaccurate. Migration involves moving from one country to another so estimates need to look at both countries.
"Has the Commission prepared estimated figures on the UK 's economy, employment market and social provisions? Furthermore have Romania and Bulgaria kept their own side of the bargain? Are their own external borders properly policed? Do their regimes respect human rights? What arrangements are being made to combat the potential spread of corruption and organised crime?
"The European Commission has a duty to help answer these questions.
"It will not do to tell voters they should simply trust the EU to do what is best for them. That will not reassure them."