Thread: EU approves Blue Card, rules on employment of illegal immigr

Is Obama following marching orders? Does this sound familiar and is this tapped into the teleprompter feed?

EU approves Blue Card, rules on employment of illegal immigrants
Posted : Mon, 25 May 2009 15:11:43 GMT
Author : DPA


Brussels - European Union government ministers Monday formally adopted a set of common standards and sanctions targeting employers who hire illegal foreign immigrants. These include obliging businesses to make sure that non-EU workers hold a valid residence permit, and that a copy of such permits is kept and made available for inspection by national authorities.

EU-wide penalties include fines, whose amount will increase according to the number of illegally employed foreigners that have been detected, and the possible exclusion of guilty businesses from accessing public funds or taking part in public tenders.

The new rules are designed to put an end to "abuses by unscrupulous employers" who hire illegal immigrants and then provide them with "low salaries and poor labour conditions," ministers said in a joint statement.

At a meeting in Brussels, ministers also formally agreed to introduce a so-called EU Blue Card designed to attract highly skilled foreign workers by offering them favourable working conditions and more favorable family reunification rules.

According to European Commission figures, only 1.7 per cent of the EU workforce is made up of highly qualified workers from third countries, compared to 9.9 per cent in Australia, 7.3 per cent in Canada, 5.3 per cent in Switzerland and 3.2 per cent in the United States.

Modelled on the US Green Card, the European Blue Card is also designed to allow holders to move around the 27-member bloc after an initial 18 months of legal residence in a member state, but only under certain conditions.

The European Commission's far more ambitious initial proposal was significantly watered down by national governments, which insisted that it should be up to them to decide how many migrants should enter their countries and what qualifications eligible workers should have.

Both directives were formally adopted by the European Council of ministers after lengthy discussions involving national governments, the commission and the European Parliament.

"With today's adoption of the EU Blue Card we send a clear signal that, irrespective of economic ups and downs, such migrants are always welcome in the EU," said Jacques Barrot, the EU commissioner in charge of justice, freedom and security.

"At the same time we need to do more against illegal immigration from third-countries and tackle the ease of finding illegal work in EU Member States, which is a main driving force for illegal immigration," Barrot said.

EU member states now have two years to incorporate both directives into their national laws.

Copyright, respective author or news agency

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show ... rants.html

Maybe some of us can legally get jobs in the EU after going through all the legal procedures, when this country becomes Mexamerica, in just a couple years.

Talking out of both sides of mouth, Mr. Barrot? We love to have illegals all over the EU, but we have to do more to stop them. Huh? Sure, let the citizens of other EU member nations move around as work opportunities appear, but does it make any sense at all to throw illegal aliens into that mix? Not to me it don't.

I believe that is what amnestied illegal foreign agricultural workers would receive under the latest U.S. "AG Jobs Bill" - a Blue Card giving them legal residency for 5 years. The color really is irrelevant, folks!