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Prospect of jobs in the EU with contested blue card
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Struggle for skilled workers in the EU intensifies
The struggle for skilled workers in the EU is intensifying. Proposals from Brussels regarding the introduction of an EU blue card are meeting with resistance. Now some EU countries are pressing ahead with their own green cards, creating competition among themselves in this way.
From gradual relaxation to complete liberalisation
Recent studies have shown that a growing shortage of skilled workers is slowing down economic growth and causing stagnation in the standard of living in Europe. As a consequence, there has been increasing agreement in the EU on the need to liberalise Europe’s labour markets. A decision to that effect was adopted following the EU enlargement in 2004 and still exists in principle, but some EU countries are beginning to go their own way. At present, seven of the fifteen old EU states have opened up their labour markets, five are in the process of liberalising them and three (Austria, Germany and Italy) have transitional arrangements but are also looking at ways of relaxing their regulations. The main initiatives are described below.EU blue card
This is a proposal by the EU Commission allowing highly qualified immigrants from non-EU countries to work for several years in the European Union. They would be allowed to bring their families with them and these would also be entitled to work. After working for two years, they could move to another EU country and after five years a permanent residence permit could be applied for. Austria fears a major influx of immigrants through this regulation from Brussels, and employee organisations such as the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (AK Europa) seek guarantees that the blue card will not result in wage dumping. It is not yet clear if and when the EU blue card will be introduced.Czech Republic: own green card
Last September the Czech government in Prague announced plans to introduce a green card based on the US model. Unlike the EU blue card, this initiative is not designed to attract as many skilled workers as possible to the country but above all to reduce the acute labour shortage in certain industrial sectors by adapting the issuance of permits to the demand for jobs. Companies will report their needs to the employment exchanges. If a position cannot be filled by Czech residents within a defined period of time (around three months), a green card will be issued for a foreign worker. The permit will not be restricted to a particular job, however, and the holders will not have to leave the Czech Republic if they lose the job but can seek employment elsewhere.
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Agricultural labour is also in short supply in the new countries of the EU
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Finland offers visa for job seekers
Finland has already opened up its labour market to the new EU countries and is now looking to make it easier for citizens of non-EU countries to find jobs through the issuance of a special visa allowing job seekers from outside the EU to remain in Finland for up to six months. If they find a job during this time, they can start working without delay. Persons entering the country used to be issued a three-month tourist visa, and work permits had to be applied for in advance in the applicant’s own country, which was usually something of a drawn-out process.Poland allows entry for seasonal workers
Among the new EU countries, Poland relaxed restrictions for seasonal workers from the ex-Soviet Union (Russia, Belarus and Ukraine) and Turkey in 2006 to provide assistance to Polish farmers during the harvest season. Work permits are no longer required for language teachers and journalists either.Further information:
Huge shortage of skilled workers slows development in new EU countries
Czech Republic: green card to counter labour market crisis
(fhe)
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erstellt am: 2008-01-03
