EC launches initiatives to attract legal labor / Article

The EC is taking initiatives to attract legal labor in the field of legal migration

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There is a shortage of labor

The latest package of measures proposed by the European Commission is part of the EU-wide reform of asylum rules presented by the European Commission in September 2020, namely the Migration Pact. However, this has not been agreed due to deep disagreements between Member States.

The European Commission has taken a number of initiatives in the field of legal migration to not only provide simpler, legal routes for migrants and reduce illegal migration,

but also to address labor shortages, especially in sectors such as healthcare.

Although it is up to the Member States of the European Union to decide how many legal migrants they want to receive, the European Union can support them with practical and operational instruments.

Over the last 20 years, the European Union has developed a legal framework in which the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals in the Member States are largely harmonized.

EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ilva Johansson explained: “Legal migration is a large part of the total migration to the European Union. In a normal year, almost three million people enter the EU legally. The level was slightly lower during the pandemic and now but they are usually between 2.5 and three million, and we need these migrants. we need more ways for people to come and contribute to our economy. “

renovations

The proposal aims to reform two existing pieces of legislation, the Single Permit Directive and the Long-Term Residents Directive. The Single Permit Directive allows migrants to work and reside.

The EC stated that the process of obtaining this permit will be streamlined and shortened, as a longer process may deter employers from hiring foreigners. The revision of this directive will also improve safeguards for equal treatment and protection against labor exploitation.

The second reform concerns the Long-Term Residents Directive. Its revision aims to facilitate the acquisition of long-term resident status in the European Union by simplifying reception conditions, for example by allowing periods of residence to be accumulated in different Member States.

At present, 10 million people have long-term residence permits in the European Union, said Commissioner Johansson.

The revision of the directive will also improve the rights of long-term residents and their family members, including by improving family reunification and facilitating mobility within the European Union.

It is planned to launch “talent partnerships” with non-EU countries to improve access to employment and training, to prevent smuggling and to improve cooperation with countries on the return and readmission of illegal immigrants. The first such partnerships are scheduled to be launched by the end of the year with North African countries, in particular Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.

Mutual benefit

Margitis Shins, Vice-President of the European Commission, explained that legal migration is mutually beneficial.

He said: “It gives those who want to migrate the opportunity to improve their living conditions, to live better lives, while it gives our economies more skilled workers, and in today’s unpredictable and volatile world it is needed more than ever. Demographic decline, various transitions and the recovery from the pandemic, all of which, together with the major skills shortages we face in Europe, call for a dynamic and productive workforce. To put it simply, we cannot cope without labor migration. “

The European Commission is also proposing to set up the first EU-wide platform and harmonization instrument, the European Union Talent Fund, to make the European Union more attractive to third-country nationals seeking opportunities and to help employers find the talent they need.

But to address the urgent need to facilitate access to the labor market for newcomers from Ukraine, the European Commission is proposing a pilot initiative, which should be operational in early summer 2022. More than five million people from Ukraine have entered the European Union, and less than two million have returned to Ukraine, said Commissioner Johansson, noting that 3.8 million are still in the European Union.

Johanson mentioned that this talent fund could be used, for example, to help employers in the Member States find, for example, the Ukrainian teachers needed to teach Ukrainian children at school.

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