Ukrainian refugees pass through passport control upon arrival from Moldova at Bordeaux International Airport in Mérignac April 21, 2022. PHILIPPE LOPEZ / AFP
The European Commission is presenting a draft directive on Wednesday 27 April aimed at facilitating the arrival of “skills and talent” in Europe. Clearly promote the legal migration of workers and young people to meet the demographic challenge and fill the shortage of workers in sectors such as health, technology, construction or transport. The project also mentions the creation of a “talent center” that would allow Ukrainian refugees, and then nationals of other third countries, from the summer to publicize their diplomas and experiences in order to integrate more easily into the labor market.
The Commission has chosen to revive the old debate about so-called “labour migration” in a more favorable context than that of the 2015-2016 crisis, in which countries chose to accept asylum seekers over those who were decidedly hostile. The war in Ukraine has radically changed the situation, and the issues of reception and migration are no longer taboo for most capitals. The European executive also wanted to await the outcome of the French presidential elections so as not to risk these issues being exploited by the extreme right. Finally, the finding, strongly supported by employers’ organisations, that several Member States are suffering from labor shortages that could hamper recovery measures was a further incentive for the European executive.
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However, the Commission, which claims to want to present “an ambitious and sustainable plan”, specifies that no member country will be forced to implement it. A diplomat indicated that there was no talk of a new “political suicide”, referring to the project of binding quotas for the admission of refugees, which the college headed at the time by Jean-Claude Juncker had mentioned. It had led to a serious crisis and created a rupture between the founding states and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. This time it is about respecting the competence of the Member States, the Commission stresses. “Everyone will decide, and the Union will support the states on a practical and operational level to face the challenges of demographics and migration,” they emphasize in Brussels. In 2021, it was Parliament that asked them to propose measures to harmonize reception conditions, simplify procedures and fight undeclared work.
rebalancing
It remains to convince third countries that the “partnership” mentioned is in their interests. The Commission takes up one of its old slogans and assures us that what it is aiming for is not a ‘brain drain’ but a ‘brain gain’ – a ‘growth of brains’. So that the point is not to deprive the countries concerned of their best and most educated elements, but on the contrary to allow them to educate more and be useful to their country in the long term. By providing foreign currency, but also through additional experience and training. Brussels promises that the initiative will also be replaced as part of development aid.
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