Brussels is considering a radical overhaul of employment law to ensure that European job markets can grow despite an expected fall in many countries' populations.

The European Commission held a public hearing in Brussels on June 14 to consider how to develop labour policies that will allow workers from non-European Union member states, such as India and Russia to work without having to go through Byzantine national employment procedures.

At the hearing, the Commission acknowledged the need for better rules for economic migration. Part of the reasoning was an acknowledgement that the European Union will need an extra 20 million people to fill potential job vacancies by 2030.

Employment and social affairs commissioner Vladimir Spidla commented that the system would have "to balance fears of certain Europeans with the desires of migrants seeking a better life in Europe." Various contributors also mooted the idea of the creation of a database that would inform third country migrants of potential jobs.

The free movement of labour is one of the cornerstones of the nearly 50-year-old Treaty of Rome, but until now any discussion or law-making on this issue has revolved around access for EU nationals. The move is a radical part of Commission policy making that is analysing how Europe can adapt its workforce to ensure that an ageing population can look forward to a reasonably prosperous retirement rather than the pensions' crisis that many commentators and experts have been predicting.

The public hearing is all part of policy-making that starts with Brussels issuing what is called a green paper. This outlines the Commission's thoughts on a certain issue and becomes the starting block for a consultation process that will if thought necessary become draft legislation.

The green paper on economic migration outlines possible ways of developing an EU-wide approach to labour migration. It considers what sort of policy should be developed for workers who will be on contracts longer than three months and looks at admission procedures.

 1 2 3 Next >