The European Parliament supported the "Blue Card" project – an official residence and work permit for highly qualified specialists from other countries needed by Europe. According to an official statement, this document is called an analogue of the American Green Card. The proposal to introduce it first appeared in the European Union in the summer of 2007.
388 members of parliament voted for the introduction of the "Blue Card", 56 voted against, and 124 abstained. Presenting the report, project developer Eva Klamt explained how work with immigrants is planned to be conducted. "The applicant must have at least five years of work experience in the specified sector," says Eva Klamt. "He must also find a place in one of the EU organizations on his own."
The contract guarantees the foreigner decent conditions: a salary equivalent to 1.7 times the average wage in the chosen country and sector of specialization. According to experts, for Germany the average salary is about €42,000 per year, and in Spain it is about €33,000, reports the German publication Deutsche Welle. Thus, not all companies will be able to invite a specialist from abroad in the context of the financial crisis.
Europe primarily needs IT specialists, mechanical engineering experts, engineers, and doctors. However, the full list of professions for "Blue Cards" will be prepared later. Their holders will be able to live in Europe with their families. If the cardholder loses their job, they will be given six months to find a new one. They will be able to go work in another EU country if the specialist has spent three years in the previous one. With such work experience, within two years after the expiration of the "Blue Card", it can be renewed.
Meanwhile, Europe fears losing control over the "all-powerful" holders of the "Blue Card". To avoid panic, the European Parliament proposed that each member state independently decide how many "Blue Cards" to issue per year. It is also stated that the "Blue Card" does not give its holder the unconditional right to permanently move to the country – the card does not cancel immigration rules. In addition, other EU members can, by a common decision, impose a ban on a card that was issued by one of the union states.
Inviting immigrants, the European Parliament adds that holders of the "Blue Card" should not have priority over local residents in job search. It was also decided to block the effect of the "Blue Card" in sectors where access for workers from recently acceded EU member states is restricted.
In particular, in Germany and Austria, this includes work in the construction industry and in the field of security, professional cleaning of premises, cleaning of buildings and city streets, harvesting from gardens for sale, home care for people, and social work. The European Parliament added that the "Blue Card" cannot be issued to asylum seekers and seasonal workers.
The European Parliament also fears the prospect of a brain drain from third world countries, where "any development may cease altogether". "Member states should not encourage brain drain from third countries through the "Blue Card"," explained the European Parliament. "This especially concerns sectors in countries where there is a shortage of good specialists, in particular, medicine and education."
Fresh blood has long been needed for Europe's human resources. The Old World has recorded a demographic aging of the population. Moreover, highly qualified specialists still prefer to go to the US, where very good conditions are created for them. Fewer and fewer specialists are coming to Europe. "The EU is catastrophically short of quality labor. Take Germany, for example. It needs 95,000 engineers," says Klamt. The German automotive industry lacks 25,000 specialists. The shortage of qualified personnel in the European information and communication technology market is estimated at several tens of thousands of people.
Next week, the draft law is to be approved by the interior ministers of the European Union. The new rules will come into force only two and a half years after their adoption – in April 2011.