In many sectors, development is hampered not so much by the financial and economic crisis as by a shortage of highly qualified specialists. Many of them prefer to live and work in the United States. Now the European Parliament has conceived, by analogy with the American Green Card, to introduce its own European Blue Card.
Blue Card, the blue immigrant card. The name is good, but the effectiveness is highly questionable. It is already clear that the Blue Card will not become a full-fledged analogue of the American Green Card, that is, a pass to the United States. After all, the Green Card is essentially an unlimited in time and place residence permit in the United States. But the European Blue Card is limited to a period of two to three years, and the freedom to choose a place of residence within the European Union is also limited.
Applicants must present an employment contract with a sufficiently high salary, so only specialists of truly high qualification have a chance to enter. No Europe-wide quotas are provided; each country will decide for itself how many migrants it will accept.
It was conceived as a large-scale project aimed at filling the shortage of specialists in communication technologies or doctors. And what came of it? A typical EU petty compromise. But it is gratifying that at least the first step has been taken. Any attempt at a common solution for all EU countries is better than the complete confusion of 27 national legislations.
And yet, it is unlikely that the Blue Card will succeed in redirecting the flow of highly qualified specialists from India, Russia or China to Europe. The United States is too attractive with its unified English language and American way of life. There is no point in deluding ourselves here.
It is no coincidence that the skeptical German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble prefers to speak only of a 'political symbol.' He believes that German authorities for foreign affairs, when issuing the Blue Card, should be guided primarily by national interests. And not only German politicians hold a similar point of view. The Czech Republic and Bulgaria, for example, quite reasonably insist that before inviting migrants from other parts of the world, all restrictions on the freedom to choose a place of work and residence for citizens of new EU member states should be lifted.
The Blue Card is intended to facilitate legal immigration to the European Union. At the same time, the EU intends to increase barriers for illegal immigrants. In particular, the European Parliament proposes stricter penalties for employers who hire migrants without the appropriate documents. As for highly qualified specialists, those countries that are interested in them will unilaterally remove bureaucratic obstacles to their entry. Germany, for example, has long been trying to attract specialists to the country, albeit without much success. Therefore, as early as next year, it plans to liberalize the rules for obtaining permanent residence.
But next year, the EU countries face a recession. And elections to the European Parliament are scheduled for the beginning of June. The topic of attracting migrants to the European Union is unlikely to be very popular, because voters will primarily be interested in preserving their own jobs.
Perhaps that is why the European Parliament postponed the decision until better times. It is planned that the European Blue Card will come into force only in 2011. Before that, it must still be approved by the ministers of justice and interior of the EU countries. The European millstones grind slowly.
Bernd Riegert,
commentator for Deutsche Welle