Parlament billigt 'Blue Card'[en] 

EU Presidency holders Portugal made moves towards a "realistic" approach to legal migration, one of the mandates of its six-month term, in a bid to address social inclusion alongside tight border controls to curb illegal entry into the EU and help solve Europe's looming job-shortage crisis.

A set of proposals from the European Commission, earlier in September, aimed to relax restrictive immigration laws that prevent European companies from hiring the staff that they urgently need from abroad. It also aimed to address demographic developments that will, according to projections, mean that by 2050 two workers will have to pay for the lívelihood of one retired person (compared with four workers today). 

Experts say that higher birthrates, which member states are attempting to encourage through a variety of policies, can mitigate this development, but not counteract it completely.  

According to Commission figures, there are around three million unfilled jobs in the EU, with the jobless rate falling to 7.1% in June 2007, its lowest level in more than 15 years.

But the positive economic outlook also creates new problems, with a shortage crisis in both the skilled and unskilled labour looming as the population gets older.

In October, the European Commission is set to propose a legal package consisting of:

• a Framework Directive on the rights of legal immigrants; 
• a Directive on highly-skilled immigrant workers (the so-called 'Blue Card' proposal); 
• a Directive on seasonal workers; 
• a Directive on inner-company transfers, and; 
• a Directive on paid trainees.   

In the Strasbourg debate on 26 September 2007, Socialist Group reports setting out strategies for dealing with legal and illegal migration were supported and, in backing the EU 'Blue Card', MEPs said that it was also necessary for the EU to have an active co-development policy with the countries from which migrants come and extend the channels for legal migration, so that tragedies of would-be EU citizens drowning in the Mediterranean could be avoided.

Socialist Group leader Martin Schulz said: "Europe is a land of immigration - and it will be for many years to come. In 2050, the EU population will be only 4% of the world population, compared with 8% today. We need to take demographic pressures into account."

Spanish MEP Javier Moreno, author of a report on illegal immigration, said: "Illegal migrants are not criminals. We need the courage and political will to tackle illegal labour. There should be zero tolerance of the black labour market."

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) leader MEP Graham Watson asked the Portuguese EU Presidency: "How many people must perish before governments see they cannot simply raise the drawbridge of Fortress Europe?"

"Migration will not go away. It is driven by a heady cocktail of despair and hope. Yet it has the capacity, if properly managed, to enrich and energise Europe...The truth is that we only have one choice when it comes to developing countries: We accept their goods or we accept their people. If we want to let fewer in, we must help them more at home. I call on the Portuguese Presidency to redouble its efforts to bring down Europe's agricultural tariffs and bring Doha to a successful conclusion. And for the Commission to develop a generous agenda for Africa, linking money and market opening to human rights and the rule of law to boost living standards in countries of origin."

MEP Patrick Gaubert (UMP, PPE-DE, France), author of a report on immigration, spoke of "the pressing need for a concerted common policy that makes it possible to better organise legal immigration and ceaselessly fight against human trafficking and illegal immigration, and manage the EU's borders more effectively."

MEP Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert (VVD, Netherlands), ALDE spokesperson on immigration and asylum issues, said: "Immigration is by its very nature a cross-border issue and therefore the member states of the European Union have to act together. A European Blue Card will create clarity and is fairer towards the people who want to come to Europe to work. In economic terms it is a matter of supply and demand.

"Frontex, the EU's border control agency, also needs resources adequate to match its mission. Member states must put their money where their mouth is," she added.

The Head of Parliament's Commission on Civil Liberties Jean Marie Cavada (UDF, France) said: "At last, we can deal with legal and illegal immigration together - constituting the two sides of a Common Immigration Policy - as no one country can solely manage immigration flows." Cavada reiterated his support for the provisions in the revised Treaty, which is currently being negotiated, stressing that "it is time to put an end to the current institutional imbalance in order for illegal immigration to become a genuine common policy and that legal immigration and integration issues are - from now on - dependent upon a majority both in the Council and Parliament through the joint decision-making procedure." 

Meanwhile, Italian GUE/NGL MEP Giusto Catania called for a logical and consistent strategy to broaden and extend the channels for legal migration so that tragedies that are turning the Mediterranean into "an open graveyard" could be avoided: "It is very important that a serious evaluation of the return policy that is going to be voted on at our next Strasbourg session is carried out. I don't think that 18 months of administrative detention for irregular migrants is compatible with EU human rights standards. It is also important that we evaluate the costs and the tasks of the Frontex agency: why does it cost €45m when it is used only four times a year? Perhaps the money is used to pay its 90 employees?"

"The repressive criminalisation of immigrants is the result of current policy," added Portugal's Pedro Guerreiro. "We want to close detention centres and end the inhumane policy of deportation. Immigrant workers must be regularised, brought into the system and granted their employment and social rights on a par with everyone else. The exploitation of migrant workers is completely unacceptable."