EC sends formal notice over Blue Card for legal migrants

Malta has not yet fully transposed EU rules for highly qualified migration into national law, and it is making it too hard for such people to come to the Eu for work, the European Commission said today.

The Commission formally requested Germany, Italy, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Sweden to comply with the rules of the Blue Card Directive, whose deadline for implementation expired on 19 June 2011.

In its reply to the letter of formal notice on 16 September 2011, Malta notified the Commission that the Maltese legislation transposing the provisions of Directive 2009/50/EC was at an advanced stage of drafting and that publication was planned by the end of 2011.

“Despite being in the midst of an economic crisis with high levels of unemployment, employers often cannot find the highly qualified workers they need. The EU Blue Card Directive puts in place common and efficient rules that allow highly skilled people from outside Europe to come and work in our labour markets where there is a need,” the Commission said.

The Directive establishes a fast-track admission procedure for these foreigners and ensures a common set of social and economic rights (equal to those of EU nationals) in a number of areas.

The Blue Card directive was adopted on 25 May 2009 and all EU member states except Denmark, the UK and Ireland are bound by the directive.

The EU Blue Card scheme helps attracting highly qualified migrants to Europe, and provides a common and simplified procedure that ensures that potential migrants know what they need to do, whichever member state they are planning to go to, rather than having to face 24 different systems.

Once a Member State grants a Blue Card to a migrant, that person can then benefit from free access to highly qualified employment positions in that member state and can also move to another EU Member State where their skills may be needed.

Coupled with preferential rules for acquiring long-term resident status and for family reunification, the Blue Card scheme presents an attractive package to potential highly qualified migrants.

The EC says the Blue Card is a demand-driven instrument which does not grant a right of admission and respects the competences of the member states to determine the volume of labour immigrants entering their territory for the purpose of highly qualified employment.