On Thursday 15 June, the European Parliament's civil liberties committee adopted, by a large majority (45 votes in favour, 10 against, with 2 abstentions), its negotiating position with the member states on the work permit for attracting highly-qualified workers from non-EU countries – the famous “Blue Card” directive that the Commission revised in 2016, as part of its Agenda on Migration (see EUROPE 11567).
The EU-wide revised rules for awarding the blue cards will replace the current national systems and help attract experts based on the needs of the changing EU labour market. On 7 June 2016, the European Commission proposed reforming the European blue card system in an effort to facilitate the entry into the European Union of “highly qualified” migrants. The system introduced in 2009 was a failure according to the Commission, with 69% of highly qualified migrants preferring to go to other OECD countries, particularly the US. In the EU, the blue card was mainly used in Germany.
Under the new rules, applicants will need to present a valid work contract or a binding job offer of minimum 9 months (instead of the current 12 months), as well as evidence of their higher qualifications or professional skills. Both the candidate and the employer can file the request, and the information to apply should be easily accessible.
To avoid competing with the EU common system, all national schemes for the admission of third-country nationals for the purpose of highly-skilled employment will be abolished. The salary should be between 1 and 1.4 times the average gross annual salary in the country concerned, but authorities can ignore this requirement for certain sectors if they agree so with the social partners, MEPs decided. Another new element includes the possibility of blue card owners being able to travel for business for up to 90 days within the EU. Refugees and asylum seekers in the EU would also be able to apply for this blue card. The Council of the EU has still not adopted a position on this directive. (Solenn Paulic)