Is the revision of the Blue Card Directive on residence and work permits in the EU for highly skilled migrants about to be concluded between the Parliament and the EU Council? The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, expressed her optimism, on Tuesday 27 April, on this file, which was presented in 2016 and suspended for several years. She expressed confidence that an agreement could be reached between the legislators.
In the European Parliament, and, in particular, in the entourage of the rapporteur, Javier Moreno Sánchez (S&D, Spain), there is also a certain optimism and constructive discussions with the Council of the EU are noted. Earlier this week, the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council submitted to the Parliament a ‘compromise package’ on the points still open, such as the minimum wage range or the time allowed to look for a job, as well as the facilitation of procedures to exercise labour mobility in other Member States (see EUROPE 12659/11). Positions are said to have converged on some aspects such as the salary range, but other issues still need work, it is argued.
In any case, both parties hope that an interinstitutional negotiation meeting (trilogue) in mid-May, perhaps on 17 May, will be able to record an agreement in principle. The EU Council is also confident that it has presented a “balanced” compromise, says a source.
This directive, first adopted in 2009, is one of the few tools for legal labour migration at European level, but has never really been effective, competing with national systems and also coming up against too high minimum wage thresholds.
In principle, the Commission is also expected to develop these aspects of legal labour migration in its ‘talent partnerships’, announced in the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’ and which could be presented in May. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)