EU Blue Card: European Commission welcomes political agreement on new rules for highly skilled migrant workers

The European Commission welcomes the agreement reached yesterday by the European Parliament and the European Council on new rules for the entry and residence of highly skilled workers from outside the EU under the revised Blue Card Directive.

The new scheme will introduce efficient rules for attracting highly skilled workers to the EU, including more flexible admission conditions, enhanced rights and the possibility to move and work more easily between EU Member States. Agreement on the revised Blue Card is a key objective of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum.

Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, said: “Migrant workers already make an important contribution to the EU’s economy. But our shrinking, aging society means we must continue to attract skills and talent from abroad. Today’s agreement is a key element of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum that will allow us to normalise our migration policy”.

The European Parliament and the Council will still need to confirm formally the political agreement by adopting the EU Blue Card Directive. Once the Directive is formally adopted, Member States will have 2 years to transpose the rules into national law.

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Press release

Blue Card webpage