The European Union's recent proposal aims to attract highly skilled migrants by granting them access to all EU labour markets - but with some important limitations. Elizabeth Collett of the European Policy Centre explains the basics of the Blue Card proposal, the questions it raises, and national-level reactions.

The proposal Itself

Guarding the labour market

Unanswered questions

Structural barriers to mobility

National approaches

Creating opportunities

In October 2007, the European Union unveiled its proposals for a Blue Card system with a flourish.

Comparable in theory to the US green card, which grants lawful permanent residence based on employment in addition to family relationships or refugee/asylee status, this legislation aims to make Europe a player on the emerging global labour market, enhancing its competitiveness and luring highly skilled workers to Europe — and away from countries like the United States and Australia.

The scheme is based on the rationale that Europe is stronger when it works together to attract skilled workers than as individual Member States. Comparisons are often made with North America. The European Commission itself noted in a memo that, while nonnational highly skilled workers make up 3 percent of the labour force in the United States and 7 percent in Canada, highly skilled non-Europeans form just 1.7 percent of the employed population in Europe.

But there are disparities between EU Member States. While tertiary-educated migrants form nearly half the employed foreign-born population in countries such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, and Sweden, they are a far smaller proportion in southern European countries, such as Greece and Italy according to a report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In theory, a Blue Card system would aim to reduce these differences, and increase Europe's attractiveness as a whole.

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