Migration: 'Blue Card' reform, integration and new partnership with third countries

The College announces a new Migration Partnership Framework with third countries, reforms the Blue Card for highly-qualified workers and presents an Action Plan on integration. It also discusses its contribution to the Global Strategy and releases the 2016 Convergence report.

A New Migration Partnership Framework with third countries

The College has set out a new results-oriented concept of cooperation with third countries, the Migration Partnership Framework, which brings together the EU and its Member States, and ensures the necessarycoherence between the Union's migration policy and other Union's policies notably development and trade policies.

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  Objectives

The EU and its Member States should combine their respective instruments and tools to agree tailor-made partnerships with key third countries of origin and transit to better manage migration. The priorities are saving lives at sea, increasing returns, enabling migrants and refugees to stay closer to home and, in the long term, helping third countries' development in order to address root causes of irregular migration.

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  First tailor-made partnerships

It is proposed in the short term to complete tailored 'compacts' with Jordan and Lebanon, to explore with Tunisia how best to take EU-Tunisia cooperation to the next level and to launch and agree partnerships with Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Mali and Ethiopia; as well as to stand ready to support the Libyan Government of National Accord in its efforts to manage irregular migration flows.

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  Financing

In the short term, the Trust Fund for Africa will be strengthened with €1 billion, consisting of €500 million from the European Development Fund Reserve and €500 million requested from Member States. In addition, traditional financial programmes should be reoriented.

In autumn 2016, the Commission will make a proposal for a new and ambitious External Investment Plan in order to mobilise investments in developing third countries. €3.1 billion will be mobilised to this end, expected to trigger total investments of up to €31 billion and the potential to increase to €62 billion if Member States and other partners match the EU contribution.

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  Next step

Today's Communication will be submitted to the June European Council meeting on 28-29 June for discussion and endorsement. Member State contributions in these partnerships - diplomatic, technical and financial - will be of fundamental importance in delivering results.

Action Plan on Integration and reform of 'Blue Card' scheme

Delivering on the Commission's Political Guidelines, which set legal migration as a priority for this Commission, the College has adopted an Action Plan to support Member States in the integration of third-country nationals and their economic and social contributions to the EU, as well as a legal proposal to reform the rules of the 'Blue Card' for highly skilled migrants coming to the EU to work.

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  EU Action Plan on integration

Member States - at national, regional and local level - are at the forefront when it comes to integration. The Action Plan sets out the concrete policy, operational and financial support to be delivered at EU level to support them in their efforts.

Under the New Skills Agenda for Europe, the Commission will also support labour market integration with various tools to improve migrants' skills and to recognise and benefit from their existing qualifications.

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  Reform of the EU 'Blue Card'

Today's proposals will support European businesses in attracting qualified and talented people from around the world, notably by establishing a single EU-wide scheme, enhancing intra-EU mobility, and enabling Member States to adjust the salary threshold to their labour markets contexts

The new Blue Card Scheme would bring an estimated positive annual economic impact of between €1.4 billion to €6.2 billion from additional highly skilled workers coming to the EU to take up jobs

Contribution to the Global Strategy

Following on its orientation debate in March 2016, the College has further discussed its comprehensive contribution to the ongoing consultations for the upcoming Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy that High Representative/Vice-President Mogherini is finalising in view of its presentation in the coming weeks, as requested by the June 2015 European Council.

Commission releases the 2016 Convergence Report

The report based on the convergence criteria, the so-called ‘Maastricht criteria’, shows that all the seven Member States that are legally committed to adopt the euro - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden - have made progress with convergence, but none of them currently meet all conditions for euro adoption.

European Citizens' Initiative

The European Commission has today registered the European Citizens' Initiative 'More than education - Shaping active and responsible citizens' inviting the Commission to propose "a set of incentive measures, including support and monitoring, to develop citizenship education in curricula on all levels of formal education throughout Europe, aimed at shaping democratic citizens". This registration starts a one-year process of collection of signatures in support of the proposed European Citizens' Initiative by its organisers.

Glyphosate

Commissioner Andriukaitis has informed the College on the results of yesterday's meeting of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed Committee and discussed the next steps to be taken.