Amid the turbulent world events of recent months, the pressing problems of everyday life have somehow faded, been forgotten, and receded into the background in the minds of many Europeans. Nevertheless, they have not disappeared anywhere – and among them is the problem of migration, which European leaders have been trying to solve for many years.
On the one hand, the Old Continent needs an influx of specialists in many areas of scientific activity, industry, and services. A specialist nowadays is a rare, spoiled bird; he should be caressed, provided with conditions, and interested. On the other hand, a huge number of people who are not needed at all are streaming into Europe: illegal migrants, asylum seekers, 'sausage refugees' (there is such a term, albeit not very polite, but quite accurate). Their average level of qualification, as a rule, tends to zero. If they can develop any European economy, it is only the shadow economy. The European Union erects ever new obstacles in their path, but so far all of them have proven not very effective.
The so-called 'Blue Card' (Bluecard) – a residence permit for the European Union for foreigners, similar to the American 'Green Card', is a long-standing project of the European Commission. On the initiative of France, which, as is known, is currently the country holding the EU presidency, European leaders have apparently finally agreed on common rules for issuing this document. Everyone agreed that the main point should be the income criteria of a foreign specialist wishing to take a job within the EU. According to the French project, the minimum income of such a specialist should be 1.5 times the average salary in a given EU country, depending on the field of his labor or scientific activity. For some professions where the need for labor in Europe is particularly high, this bar is lowered to 1.2 times the average salary.
Thus, only very rich companies or those desperately in need of employees will be able to afford to invite a foreigner. At the same time, with this measure, Europeans intend to raise the level of job applicants: companies will most likely agree to pay such a salary only to select people – primarily scientists, engineers, and doctors.
The 'Blue Card' should be issued for a minimum of one year, maximum of two. If a specialist has worked within the EU for a total of 5 years, he automatically receives the right to a residence permit and extended social protection for his family members. In addition, the procedure for obtaining citizenship is subsequently simplified for him – if he wishes to go through it. However, all these general provisions are not so much rules as directives: EU countries can still adopt their own laws on this matter.
Furthermore, the same France proposed considering the introduction of a so-called 'migration card' alongside the 'blue' one. European journalists have already nicknamed it the 'red card', since in this case we are talking about regulating a particular migration flow – which Europeans are not at all happy about. According to the French leadership, the European Union should adopt common rules for regulating migration, which will primarily be based on the current situation in the labor market. Political and humanitarian considerations should take a back seat. So those who want to immigrate to Europe will have to rely not on the sympathy of the authorities or on lawyers proving their right to refugee status, but on their own qualifications and willingness to engage in labor activity – and far from a 'fetch-and-carry' level.
As for illegal migration, European ministers simply see no common recipe. The introduction of common rules for dealing with 'illegals', planned for 2010, is postponed until 2012, and even then many doubt that they will ever appear. All that the heads of foreign policy departments of the EU countries could agree on in this regard is a general declaration confirming the intention to fight illegal migration as a phenomenon. Simply no one knows how to do it.
Boris ALTNER.
IA Rosbalt