Policy recommendations

  • To address the internal push factors for migration, the EU should provide adequate assistance to developing countries and achieve the target of 0.7% of GDP for development cooperation. It should help developing countries to devise effective strategies to retain highly skilled workers, e.g. through development programmes aimed at improving local employment opportunities and working conditions. This is especially necessary in the health sector.
  • The EU should provide targeted investments to train, deploy and retain staff in developing countries who are working in sensitive sectors such as education and health. The EU should also provide long-term budgetary support to underpin the domestic financing of those sectors.
  • The EU should ensure that all its member states sign a legally binding commitment one that includes the private sector in order to prevent active recruitment in developing countries. Such a code of practice should address country- or region-specific needs. Furthermore, in order to ensure compliance, the EU should set up a formally constituted body with an oversight and watchdog role in the EU and developing countries.
  • To prevent a negative impact on source countries, the EU should introduce concrete measures to encourage the permanent return of Blue Card holders. Within the EU the portability of social rights should be facilitated. In developing countries, migrants should be offered benefits in order to encourage their return.
  • If the EU attracts workers whose education and training have been provided by their home countries, then these countries of origin should be appropriately compensated for having provided these skills. 
  • The EU should encourage its member states to strengthen their own (national) workforce policies in all sectors in order to become less dependent on foreign workers from less developed countries.

Case: Blue Card

08-06-2009 Brains from developing countries through the European drain.

On May 25th the Council adopted a directive aimed at facilitating conditions of entry and residence in the EU of third-country citizens for the purpose of highly qualified employment. In other words: the Council approved of the so-called Blue Card, an access card to the EU for highly skilled workers around the world. The Blue Card is expected to help tackle the aging problem and the shortage of highly qualified workers at the labour market. A possible positive development for EU member states, but what about the developing countries where the highly skilled workers are recruited?

            

The EU Coherence Programme has followed process regarding the Blue Card very closely and drew attention to the expected negative consequences for developing countries, as did several people in the Commission and Parliament and numerous NGOs. There are some remedies to restrain these consequences as much as possible. Member states should not be allowed to recruit employees in sectors that suffer from shortages in developing countries, such as health care and education. This is called ethical recruitment. Preventing brain drain in any way possible is also an important part of limiting negative effects of this EU policy on developing countries. Besides these two points, the highly skilled workers should not only be allowed to visit their country of origin, they should be stimulated in doing so. Circular migration could be very beneficial for people, but measures have to be taken to turn this theory into practice.

The proposal of the Commission, as presented in October 2008, contained these three clauses. The European Parliament tried through amendments to change the weak way in which the Commission referred to the problems and proposed solutions regarding the Blue Card. Unfortunately, there was no co decision procedure in this case, which meant that the Commission and Council did not have to follow the advice of the Parliament.

The Directive that the Council adopted this Monday is very similar to the proposal of the Commission. A problem with both documents is that the concerns regarding the consequences for developing countries and the proposed measures, are mainly not present in the directive itself, but only in the considerations that are stated prior to the actual directive. This shows very clearly which priorities have been set by the Council.

One big difference between the proposal for a directive and the adopted directive is that the Council deleted the mentioning of development objectives in relation to circular migration. But on the other hand: the Council strives even more then the Commission for ethical recruitment by adopting the following article in the directive itself: Member States may reject an application for an EU Blue Card in order to ensure ethical recruitment in sectors suffering from a lack of qualified workers in the  countries of origin. 

The EU Coherence Programme is glad to see that the final directive draws attention to the negative consequences for developing countries and establishes measures for member states to prevent this from happening. But we believe that, in line with the Parliaments opinion, there should have been more firmly statements and measures to ensure that developing countries will not suffer from this EU policy. Achieving the MDGs will be impossible for certain countries when all their highly skilled workers, for whos education they paid, are recruited to work abroad. The EU has a responsibility to take here. We therefore hope that the member states will do anything possible, through using the important clauses in the directive and preferably even go beyond that, so that developing countries wont be brain drained. 

Relevant background documents 
Commission proposal
Parliaments opinion 
directive as adopted by the Council