Wednesday

22nd Mar 2023

Opinion

Illegal migration is a serious problem but legal migration can help Europe

Listen to article

For our Work Week project, we asked European parties if they'd like to contribute an op-ed about work, carte blanche. Here's what the EPP sent us:

Migration is a hot topic that is currently extremely debated in Europe. However, it is essential to clearly distinguish between illegal and legal migration. Illegal migration is a source of many problems for Europe. Non-adequate control of migrants coming to Europe can pose a threat to the security of all of us. Not to mention the fact that Europe has not been very successful in returning illegal migrants to their countries. On the contrary, legal migration sets up with clear rules and can be beneficial for Europe.

The commission's ambitious proposal

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Migration control could be primarily under a national responsibility and it should be unchanged. However, common rules for legal migration at the European level can be a significant asset. In October 2021, the Council adopted the Blue Card Directive. These new rules harmonise the conditions for entry and residence of highly skilled workers from third countries and increase the attractiveness of the EU Blue Card.

The aim is to attract and retain highly skilled workers in sectors facing skills shortages by making admission criteria more inclusive, facilitating mobility within the EU, and making access to the labour market easier.

Last year, at the end of April, the European Commission came up with further proposals to make legal migration much easier and more efficient. Given that there are labour shortages in many sectors, the measures should benefit the EU economy, strengthen cooperation with third countries, and, in the long term, could help to improve the management of migration to Europe.

Main tasks for the EU

The key element would be the modification of the single permit to combine a work permit with a residence permit. Everything should be streamlined to make the whole process as quick and straightforward as possible for applicants and employers. In practice, this would mean, for example, that it would be possible to apply for a single permit not only in EU member states but also in third countries.

A second very important element would be to simplify the granting of long-term residence. In addition, people with long-term resident status and their families would have enhanced rights.

How to attract talents

The package presented by the commission is, in some ways, too ambitious. However, the overall idea is a step in the right direction, provided that it involves skilled workers in professions that are currently facing a shortage of workers. The EU's so-called talent pool aims to attract talented and skilled workers from third countries, which can significantly help the European economy.

Although the new package is not directly related to the current refugee wave, it may facilitate the integration of Ukrainians in the future, which would undoubtedly be a big advantage not only for the Czech Republic, which has the most significant number of Ukrainian refugees per population.

The general simplification of conditions for legal labour migration can be seen as a potentially huge benefit, especially for workers in areas such as information technology, research, and health. Legal migration associated with skilled jobs is thus crucial to our economic recovery and Europe can ultimately benefit from it. Moreover, if the conditions for legal migration are well set, this is one (though not the only) way to curb illegal migration.

Read all the stories — and what other European parties had to say — in the Work Week section (or on the homepage, you do you)

Author bio

Tomáš Zdechovský MEP, EPP Group in the EP, Czech Republic, member of the EMPL committee.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author's, not those of EUobserver.

How Europe can make work permits actually work

Coming to Europe to work from outside the EU is hard. Despite dramatic labour shortages across sectors and EU countries, work permits for non-EU workers are few and those that exist often leave workers at the mercy of exploitative employers.

Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown

Turkey goes to the polls in May for both a new parliament and new president, after incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided against a post-earthquake postponement. The parliamentary outcome is easy to predict — the presidential one less so.

When geopolitics trump human rights, we are all losers

The EU must back the UN's Human Rights 75 initiative at the end of the year to rekindle the spirit of the original declaration made in 1948 — and also demand a similar recommitment from all its 27 members.

Why can't we stop marches glorifying Nazism on EU streets?

Every year, neo-Nazis come together to pay tribute to Nazi war criminals and their collaborators, from Benito Mussolini to Rudolf Hess, Ante Pavelić, Hristo Lukov, and of course Adolf Hitler, in events that have become rituals on the extreme-right calendar.

When geopolitics trump human rights, we are all losers

The EU must back the UN's Human Rights 75 initiative at the end of the year to rekindle the spirit of the original declaration made in 1948 — and also demand a similar recommitment from all its 27 members.

Why can't we stop marches glorifying Nazism on EU streets?

Every year, neo-Nazis come together to pay tribute to Nazi war criminals and their collaborators, from Benito Mussolini to Rudolf Hess, Ante Pavelić, Hristo Lukov, and of course Adolf Hitler, in events that have become rituals on the extreme-right calendar.

Latest News

  1. EU Parliament joins court case against Hungary's anti-LGBTI law
  2. Three French MEPs to stay on election-observation blacklist
  3. Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown
  4. When geopolitics trump human rights, we are all losers
  5. EU starts talks on 11th round of Russia sanctions
  6. EU fears Tunisia turmoil will spark migrant boat departures
  7. 'Symbolic' Putin indictment gets some EU backing
  8. 'Final warning' to act on climate change, warns IPCC

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality
  5. Promote UkraineInvitation to the National Demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine on 25.02.2023
  6. Azerbaijan Embassy9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us