Brussels, 25/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - It is not because the EU has record unemployment in its member states that it must be closed to foreign students and researchers and still less be deprived of their potential contribution to growth and competitiveness. This conviction was again expressed by European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström on Monday 25 March at the presentation of a new directive which merges the current directives on students and researchers - Directive 2004/114/EC (which establishes common admission rules for nationals from third countries to a member state of the EU for study purposes, student exchanges, unpaid training or voluntary work) and Directive 2005/71/EC (creating a specific admission procedure for nationals from third countries for over three months, for the purposes of scientific research), two tools that have shown up shortcomings.
“Moving to Europe temporarily is an opportunity embraced by over 200,000 students and researchers from outside the EU every year. However, far too many of them have to face unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles”, the European Commission states in a press release.
In some member states the handling of visa requests can, for example, be much longer than in a neighbouring country. Some legitimate requests for visas are also refused. Others again, receive immediate orders to leave the territory, Malmström says. In her view, a strengthened framework is needed to prevent the abuse, and especially the exploitation, of these young students and researchers.
The new arrangements will enable students to work up to 20 hours per week (as opposed to 10 currently) alongside their studies, Malmström says. The researchers and students will also be able to live in host member state, on certain conditions, for 12 months from the end of their studies or research work, so as to identify the possibilities of finding a job or start a business, the Commission says. The Commission states that “this will not amount to an automatic right to work” as granting a work permit remains a national responsibility. The new proposal will also provide procedural guarantees, giving member state authorities a time period of 60 days maximum to decide on an application for a visa or residence permit. Intra-European mobility will also be strengthened.
In Malmström's view, the EU must be able to compete with the United States and Japan, and she gives the example of the arrival of doctors or nurses. Thanks to their incentives, the USA and Japan know how to attract and keep young people from third countries better.
In 2011, 220,000 nationals from third countries were admitted to the EU to study, to participate in a school exchange or to do an unpaid traineeship or voluntary work. France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands were the top host countries. The same year, 7,000 nationals from third countries arrived in the 24 EU member states covered by the data in order to conduct research work.
The Greens/EFA Group at the European Parliament has welcomed this new proposal, which the Commission hopes will come into force in 2016. In the view of Hélène Flautre, “students and researchers from third countries are today faced with numerous obstacles”. The new tool from the Commission “gives us the opportunity to lift these barriers which, besides their human cost, are deplorable for the attractiveness of the EU”, she says in a press release (our translation). (SP/transl.fl)