The revision on the EU Blue Card Directive- negotiations blocked

The negotiations between the European Parliament and Council have started in September 2017 but are blocked.

May 11, 2018

Senior Partner , Immigration Law Associates

The revision on the EU Blue Card Directive- negotiations blocked

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The negotiations between the European Parliament and Council have started in September 2017 but are blocked.

Among the major blocking issues: the scope, the harmonisation of the EU Blue Card scheme on the EU level, the recognition of professional experience, the minimum wage threshold, the long-term mobility, the labour market test and the eligibility for the long-term resident status.

Other blocking issues such as: equal treatment, permitted period of unemployment, procedural deadlines and recognised employers’ schemes, are pending a compromise.

On 3 May (ERA, Annual Conference on EU Migration Law), Shane Murphy, Policy Adviser for the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament, has brought an overview of the EU Parliament position:

POLITICAL ISSUE	EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT POSITION	COUNCIL POSITION	COMPROMISE (foreseeable)
Harmonisation- EU Blue Card vs National Parallel Schemes	EU Blue Card sole option for TCN entering the EU for the purposes of highly-skilled employment	National parallel schemes must be allowed	Complementarity between EU Blue Card and national schemes
Scope	To include applicants for international protection who already have access to the labour market	Reluctant to accept	?
Professional skills	To consider professional experience in lieu of academic qualification	Recognition of professional experience must remain optional	?
Salary threshold	To maintain mandatory thresholds with a specific derogation	To impose a much higher threshold in certain circumstances	?
Mobility provisions	To facilitate long-term mobility to another MS through a notification procedure	Long term mobility submitted to a new application in the second MS	?
Labour market tests	Only where high unemployment in a given occupation or sector and however remove LMT for family members	To permit MS to carry out LMT on all applicants	?
Long-term residents	EU Blue Card holders eligible for the long-term resident status after 3 years of continuous residence.	To leave optional the (only) 3 years period	?

Tanel Feldman

Senior Partner , Immigration Law Associates

Immigration Law Associates provides in-depth advice on rights and obligations triggered by the cross-border element of a given legal situation. Our know-how is built on an extensive experience in EU law and is supported by a network of partners across the EU. Social security coordination : • Autonomous application of the social security coordination regulations and ECJ case-law, to any situation involves a cross-border element EU Company law : • Establishment -permanent activities • Establishment -self-employment activities International Private Law : • Law applicable to the employment relationship Labour and employment law : • Freedom of movement of workers-equal treatment, access to social benefits • Employment contracts and termination of employment • Working conditions • Employee benefits • Transfer of undertakings • Authorisations of work for third-country nationals Special regimes : • Posted workers • Frontier workers • Highly mobile workers • Employment of record • Intra-EU mobility of third-country nationals