A green light for the EU’s Blue Card directive: The European Parliament has overwhelmingly backed the move to attract highly-qualified immigrants to Europe. Blue Card legislation means one procedure and set of rights for nationals from most non-EU states wishing to work in the bloc.

The parliament’s key coordinator for the package is Ewa Klamt: “You have one entrance admission to the EU and not 27 different entrance admissions. Second of all, we give them the mobility to move freely within the EU. This is something they do not have at the moment. And the third point is that member states definitely need it. Take my country germany for example: We have 95,000 open places for engineers.”

The directive does not affect EU Member States’ right to determine the entry conditions nor the number of migrants they wish to admit to their territory. Parliament proposed more precision before EU ministers add their approval, expected next week. It also said Blue Card workers should not have priority for jobs over EU nationals.

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