EU to grant more access to immigrants

In the coming four years, the European Commission will be putting forward a number of legislative initiatives aimed at opening Europe's doors to regular economic migrants granting them both employment and residential permits.

The proposals, which are likely to divide member states, also include the provision of a green card system giving immigrants the right of free movement across the 25 member states, including Malta.

Details of this legal migration policy plan were unveiled yesterday in Brussels.

Franco Frattini, European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security said the plan fulfils the request of the European Council to prepare by the end of this year a policy plan on legal migration, including admission procedures capable of responding promptly to fluctuating demands for migrant labour in the labour market.

The road map is the Commission's answer to the results of demographic changes in the EU, translated into an overall decline of employment. It is estimated that in the coming 25 years the EU will need 20 million new migrant workers to sustain its economy.

The Commission said labour and skills shortages are already noticeable in a number of sectors and they will tend to increase. EU long-term demographic projections indicate that in the EU population growth until 2025 will be mainly due to net migration, since total deaths will outnumber total births from 2010 and the effect of net migration will no longer outweigh the natural decrease after 2025.

Until January 2004, migrants represented about 3.5 per cent of the total EU population. In that same year, the total population increased by 2.3 million, mainly due to net migration of 1.85 million, or 80 per cent of the total increase.

Mr Frattini said that between 2007 and 2009 the door will first be opened to highly skilled workers with Commission proposals for an inter-governmental directive on conditions of entry and residence in 2007. Following negotiations, including the sensitive issues of quotas, numbers and movement rights for immigrants, the Commission will table proposals for seasonal workers in 2008. Legislation easing entry for trainees and corporate posted non-EU workers will be tabled in 2009.

In the case of highly skilled third country nationals, Mr Frattini recalled that Europe is in competition with other countries and therefore needs to put forward attractive conditions to encourage excellence to choose to work in the EU.

He said that to respond effectively to this challenge, one of the main elements of the package will be intra-EU mobility for such workers or an EU green card meaning a work/residence permit issued by one member state and valid throughout the EU.

In view of the controversy this proposal will generate, Mr Frattini said member states will still have control on the number of immigrants entering their country.

"It will be up to each member state to decide the number of admissions but it will be up to Europe to decide common standards," he said.

Apart from legislative measures, the EU is also proposing a number of initiatives aimed at improving the access to available information in the sphere of migration between member states, measures to integrate economic migrants and their dependents into EU societies and cooperation enhancement projects with the countries of origin.