Easing of cross-border employment is being planned.

An unsolicited report on new ways of legal labour migration was presented and discussed by MEP Sylvie Guillaume (S&D, FR) in the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on April 26, 2021. The Committee's resolution makes a number of requests and recommendations for appropriate measures for simplifying and harmonising the existing legal framework for labour migration.

Improvements for pan-EU mobility

The Committee calls on the member states to improve coordination between national authorities in relation to the mobility of third-country nationals within the EU. The EC should propose rules for supplementing the rights to pan-EU mobility in the existing directives covering legal migration.

Establishing a talent pool

The establishment of a talent pool and matching platform across all employment sectors is intended to selectively bring employers and potential employees together. Another sphere of action is simplifying the assessing, mutual recognition and certification of professional qualifications.

Strengthening relations with third countries and improving legal migration channels

The Committee’s view is that EU legislation on legal labour migration is a patchwork of different rules and regulations. Therefore, the existing EU framework is unclear for third country nationals as well as for member states themselves. This should be remedied by a comprehensive EU-wide framework that allows legal and safe routes for work-related migration. This is also intended to counter the criminal practices of human smugglers and traffickers.

Further development of the EU’s legal framework

In addition to the further development of the legal framework, the EC is also tasked with reviewing existing labour migration programmes and setting up an EU-wide programme for the cross-border activities of self-employed persons, entrepreneurs and start-ups.

Why more improvements for legal labour migration?

In the Committee's view, various factors and developments call for action by the EU’s policy makers. One of these factors is the progressive ageing of the population within the EU. Irrespective of the fact that the member states themselves decide how many people from third countries are allowed to enter, legal labour migration could better fill the demographically emerging gaps in the labour market and boost the economy as a whole. In addition, the exploitation of migrant workers, including third-country nationals coming to the EU as well as EU citizens moving to another member state, should be combated more effectively. Finally, another important objective is to make the EU labour market more attractive to specialists with sought-after skills and talents.