On Tuesday 18 November, negotiators from European Parliament and the Danish Presidency of the EU Council reached agreement on the EU talent pool project, which is designed to match job searches in the EU by third-country nationals with the needs of European employers (see EUROPE 13603/21), particularly in sectors experiencing labour shortages.
This agreement was reached at the end of a fourth trilogue meeting, and the Presidency takes real “satisfaction” in it.
Based on voluntary participation by Member States, the pool will take the form of a pan-European digital platform designed to facilitate international recruitment in sectors where Member States are expected to face labour shortages.
A European list of the sectors concerned will be drawn up. Third-country jobseekers will be able to create a profile on the platform, specifying their skills, qualifications, professional experience and language level.
Only legitimate employers will be able to publish job offers to prevent the exploitation of third-country nationals, says Copenhagen.
Member States will, for example, verify employers wishing to use the talent pool by comparing them to a register of companies that have been suspended, permanently excluded or denied access to the platform. Participating employers must be established in a participating Member State where the third-country national jobseeker will usually work.
Temporary work agencies, private employment agencies and labour market intermediaries will also be able to participate in the system via job offers submitted by the national contact point of the Member State where this entity is legally established.
Published job offers will have to include at least the following information: name and contact details of the direct employer and intermediary, job description, duration of contract and usual place of work, as well as, optionally, additional information on starting salary or salary range.
It will also be made clear to jobseekers that registration on the system or selection for a vacancy does not guarantee entry or the right to reside in the territory of the Member States.
Participating Member States will nevertheless be invited to introduce fast-track immigration procedures to facilitate recruitment. These procedures may cover visas and work permits, exemption from the principle of preference for EU citizens, non-application of labour market tests, recognition of the qualifications and skills of third-country national jobseekers, as well as the flexibilities provided for in the ‘Single Permit’ and ‘Blue Card’ directives.
European Parliament particularly stressed the promotion of fair recruitment standards in line with ILO operational guidelines, and guarantees in the event of a country withdrawing from the scheme (participation will end 9 months after notification of withdrawal).
Participation in the system will be restricted to jobseekers of legal age, and no workers will be posted via the platform.
Jobseeker profiles may also include additional information such as their preferred Member States and their availability to start work immediately. Employers and intermediaries involved in human trafficking should be flagged in their profiles.
This agreement, backed by Sweden’s Abir Al-Sahlani (Renew Europe), will be supported by Parliament’s left-wing groups, such as the S&D and even The Left, although some Parliamentary sources regret the text’s weakness on sanctions for abusive employers.
For S&D shadow rapporteur Javier Moreno (Spanish), businesses, particularly SMEs, need this system. Workers’ rights will be guaranteed, with Member States having to check each announcement and ensure that collective agreements are respected, he said.
For Belgian Assita Kanko, shadow rapporteur for the ECR, the pool “could contribute to our companies’ competitiveness, as it’s a technical instrument designed to address a real labour shortage”.
European trade unions against the proposal. “We would like to reiterate our support for migrant workers’ access to the EU labour market, provided that this is based on full respect for labour, trade union and social rights (...) The proposal (...) offers no guarantees of this kind”, argued several unions in a joint letter on 14 November.
“Many of the ‘shortage occupations’ belong to labour intensive and fraud sensitive industries, such as construction, food, agriculture, hospitality and transport”, say ETUC, EFBWW, EFFAT, EPSU and IndustriALL Europe. They criticise, among other things, a vague definition of work intermediaries as “other participating entities”, which will condone fraudulent recruitment procedures.
Link to the unions’ position: https://aeur.eu/f/jhn
Link to the latest available 4-column table: https://aeur.eu/f/jhp (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)