EU work permit 'blue card' faces opposition 07-12-2007 The European Commission's plan to attract non-EU workers has run into
difficulties, as several member states question whether Brussels' bureaucracy
should play a role in the area. On Thursday 6 November, interior and employment
ministers from the 27-nation bloc failed to give complete backing to a set of
ideas tailored to tackle one of Europe's major dilemmas - how to fulfil its
economic need for guest workers, while alleviating the pressure of illegal
migration.
The biggest controversy centres around an EU work permit - dubbed the blue
card - allowing employment to non-Europeans in any country within the 27-nation
bloc.
"We have 3.5 million unemployed, which means that companies can find workers
within Germany", the country's employment minister Olaf Scholz said, according
to AP, adding that a European initiative into a purely national matter was not
needed.
Berlin fears that the blue card would be the first step towards Brussels
setting out the specific numbers of economic immigrants able to enter the
territory of an individual member state.
EU home affairs commissioner Franco Frattini dismissed those concerns by
saying "it is not up to Brussels to decide how many engineers Austria or Germany
need".
Under his proposal, an Indian engineer would be allowed to come to an EU
state after presenting a valid work contract or a binding job offer.
At first, the work permit would be limited to a maximum two-year stay,
followed by the possibility to move to another EU state, so long as there was a
valid work contract available.
"I am convinced that common rules to regulate people entering the EU are
necessary", Mr Frattini said, underlining that a member state will be free not
to participate in the blue card regime.
The EU's executive body argues that the EU workforce is shrinking because of
the ageing population, while competition for highly-skilled workers is growing
in an ever-more globalised economy.
In Europe, non-European highly-qualified workers make up only 1.7 percent of
the employed population, but they account for nearly ten percent in Australia,
over seven percent in Canada and over three percent in the US.
On the other hand, it is estimated there are up to eight million people
staying illegally in the 27-nation bloc, although 87 percent of those who enter
the old continent are under-educated and do not meet the union's labour market
needs.
But despite those arguments, Czech employment minister Petr Necas described
the blue card idea as "wrong".
He pointed to the fact that people from Central and Eastern Europe, who
joined the EU club in 2004, still face labour restrictions in five countries,
namely in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France and Germany.
Source:
EUobserver
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