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EU legislators back plans for US-style `blue card' program

EU lawmakers on Wednesday backed plans for an EU-wide work permit to attract skilled workers, to offset labor shortages in the 27-nation bloc and combat falling birth rates and demographic shifts.

A proposal to introduce an EU "blue card" -- inspired by the US Green Card -- is to be presented by the European Commission on Oct. 23. It aims to attract engineers, IT specialists and other highly qualified workers from Asia, Africa and Latin America, who currently prefer North America and Australia over Europe.

Next year, the EU's executive arm also plans to propose guidelines to attract seasonal workers, essential for agriculture, construction and tourism. In 2009, the Commission is to streamline the transfers of third-country nationals within multinational companies so that they do not have to seek multiple work and residence permits.

The European Parliament supported the proposals, which could see the EU adopt a US-style system of permanent work visas for migrants. It said in a resolution that the EU labor market is in need of legal immigrants since the bloc's working-age population will shrink by more than 50 million by 2050.

But it called for the member states to remain in charge of setting their own quotas for economic migrants.

The EU has grappled with the issue of legal immigration since 1999 when the first set of draft guidelines was presented. But the plans for a "positive" immigration policy, including easier access for third-country nationals to the EU labor market, were shelved for several years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on US targets.

EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini said the EU needs well-handled legal immigration because it needs to remain competitive.

"The idea is to introduce a European blue card so that highly skilled workers needed in a particular country will, after a period of time, be able to move to another EU country," Frattini said.
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