by Delila Bikic, CERES MA candidate
In October 2007, the European Commission adopted a legislative initiative regarding the admission of highly-skilled migrants to the EU, known as the Blue Card Directive and later, its complementary policy twin, the Single Permit Directive. By outlining a framework for the conditions of entry and residence for third-country nationals and their families, the aim of such schemes is to provide member states with an instrument through which to attract qualified labourers from the developing world for the purposes of high-skilled employment. However, while the benefits include helping to offset the Union’s labour shortages through better worker allocation and harmonization, thereby increasing the competitiveness of the EU economy, some member states have responded to the Directives with criticism (i.e. ‘too much’ centralization from the EU, potential loss of sovereignty over national labour systems, negative impact on native workers, unwanted migratory flows, etc). In light of these debates, this paper will explore the EU’s role in legal immigration processes, particularly pertaining to the development of labour migration policies. The paper will then introduce the two main Directives, the Blue Card and Single Permit, in order to explain how the EU addresses the migration of high-skilled labourers as a prospective solution to labour shortages, the effects of aging populations, and needs of an increasingly knowledge-based economy. Lastly, this paper will look at the different national responses and approaches to the implementation of these Directives taken by member states. This interaction between EU legislation and national labour migration systems will be explored by referencing the extent to which the cases of Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and the UK have been open to adapting the aims of the Directives domestically. This topic is significant to study because it reveals the politics involved in designing migration policies. More importantly, EU’s involvement in the (legal) regulation of high-skilled employment sheds light on the broader intersection between migration and labour as well as the relationship between the supranational and national levels when it comes to developing policy initiatives that dictate the size and nature of immigration flows.
