Almost 5 years after the proposal presented by the
European Commission, and following the work carried out in the last quarter of
2020 by Germany, as Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Portugal's
efforts were rewarded and the European Union is now closer to achieving a
system that attracts and retains highly qualified workers.
This is how, on 17 May 2021, the Council Presidency
and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the revision of
the Blue Card Directive, with Portugal
leading the negotiations.
The main objective of this revision is to make the
"Blue Card" more efficient and attractive, possible through greater
harmonisation of the conditions of entry and residence of highly qualified
workers, the legal status and rights enjoyed by these third-country nationals and
their family members. This will be a further step for the European Union to
strengthen its competitiveness and economic growth by addressing labour and
skills shortages in the labour market.
EU member states will be able to maintain national
schemes for highly qualified workers alongside the EU Blue Card, but will have
to respect a series of provisions ensuring equal conditions for EU Blue
Card holders and their families and national permit holders.
The provisional political agreement is subject to approval
by the Council and the European Parliament. Once formally adopted, member
states will have 2 years to transpose the rules of the Blue Card Directive into
national law.