Euros to be made on EU Blue Card

Loosely based on the United States ‘green card’, the single EU work visa is to be known as a ‘Blue Card’ after the colour of the flag, offering permanent residency anywhere in Europe after five years’ work.

The European Commission President announced plans to target qualified immigrants who will be able to bring their families after a 90-day application period. This is to meet an estimated short-fall of 20 million skilled and non-skilled workers by 2030.

Ministers said that Britain was likely to opt out of the scheme but would not be able to block most of the other 26 EU nations from agreeing to the scheme at their next summit in November. It will be decided by qualified majority voting with the Irish Republic and Austria other possible objectors.

The idea of a visa giving full employment and social security rights to migrants has long been a dream of the European Commission to meet projected shortages of engineers, doctors and IT specialists as Europe’s population ages.
Officials in Brussels believe that the Blue Card will change the image of Europe as a destination mainly for unskilled immigrants. About 85 per cent of global unskilled migrant labour heads to the EU while only 5 per cent goes to the United States, the commission argued. In contrast 55 per cent of skilled labour goes to the US and just 5 per cent to the EU.

Applicants for a card will need a job offer for at least a one-year contract and the employer will have to certify that the post cannot be filled from within the EU. The work contract will also have to offer the applicant a salary at least three times the level of the national minimum wage in the country where the job is located.

In return, migrants will enjoy an equal level of social and employment rights to EU citizens, including pensions, housing and healthcare. They will also be allowed to move to any other EU country if they find a new job there after two years of residence in the sponsoring country.

The UK Government is preparing its own system where applicants from outside the EU will only qualify to work in Britain if they earn enough points under criteria such as qualifications, age and experience.

The Blue Card will also mean increased mobility for high-skilled immigrants and their families inside the EU.