From 2011, qualified specialists from various countries can become holders of the Blue Card, which facilitates employment in EU countries. This decision was adopted on November 21 by the European Parliament committee.
According to the EU decision, each EU country will be able to vary the conditions of employment and the salary level of migrants with higher education and high qualifications. The European Parliament hopes that the introduction of the 'Blue Card' will help solve the problem of a shortage of specialists on the European market. For example, in Germany, only in the engineering and technical sector there is a shortage of 95,000 specialists.
The 'Blue Card' - a competitor to the American 'green card' - will allow its holders to get a job on the European market for up to three years, after which the contract can be extended for another two years. Thus, highly qualified specialists from non-EU countries can legally live and work in Europe for five years. Some European states, however, intend to limit the validity of the 'Blue Card' to four years.
To neutralize concerns of some European countries about the emergence of cheap labor in their labor markets, the European Parliament ruled that the minimum salary of 'Blue Card' holders must exceed the average salary in the host country by 1.7%.
According to the European Parliament scheme, each EU country will have the right to independently set the quota for issuing 'Blue Cards' and the rules for admitting migrants. As Deutsche Welle notes, the German government particularly insisted on the last point.