A European parliament committee has voted in favour of creating an EU-wide job-matching platform to help non-EU nationals find employment in sectors facing labour shortages.
On Wednesday, the civil liberties committee (LIBE) backed the establishment of an EU Talent Pool proposed by the European Commission. This will help connect third-country nationals with job opportunities in EU member states experiencing workforce shortages.
The draft rules were approved by 48 votes in favour, 25 against, and two abstentions. Among the committee members are PN MEP David Casa, who backed the motion.
Details of how individual members voted will be available later on Wednesday.
According to a European Labour Authority study, all 27 EU member states reported labour shortages, with the most severe cases in Switzerland and Italy.
However, Malta ranked among the least affected countries, recording the third-lowest labour shortages after Greece and Czechia.
Despite this, almost half of small and medium-sized businesses identified worker shortages to be the most pressing issue, a local Chamber of SME survey found.
A report released last year found that non-EU workers, also referred to as third country nationals, make up 20 per cent of Malta’s workforce.
Earlier this year, the government also announced a labour migration policy that aims to curb abuse against third-country national workers, while also obliging employers to favour Maltese and EU workers.
The main goal of the talent pool is to address EU-wide labour shortages, particularly in sectors such as healthcare, construction, and IT. Additionally, it aims to provide legal migration pathways to help reduce irregular migration.
The MEPs also introduced amendments to ensure the talent pool is open to all skill levels and that the service remains free of charge for job seekers.
In June 2024, the Council also approved the general approach, confirming that participation in the EU Talent Pool will be voluntary, and member states will have the authority to decide which entities take part.
The European Parliament, Commission and Council will need to come to an agreement before the scheme can become formally adopted.
On Wednesday the committee also voted in favour of a revision of the visa suspension mechanism. This draft proposes giving the EU more flexibility to temporality suspend certain visa exemptions when there is an increase of irregular migration or security risks from a visa free country.
One of the problems this aims to tackle is golden passport schemes in countries outside the EU that benefit from visa-free travel within the EU.
For instance, in December, the EU revoked Vanuatu’s visa-free travel deal after it was selling citizenship given that people from Vanuatu can travel without a visa in the EU.
The draft does not directly affect Malta’s golden passport scheme.