Europe mulls ‘blue card’ for Asian migrants

According to Frattini, the ‘Blue EU Labour Card’ would allow qualified migrants from Asian and African countries the right to live, work and travel in the 27 member states. “The plan will be unveiled next month,” he said.

The card would entitle skilled migrants to work in a member state for two years and then move to a second EU member country after two or three years, he said. “The workers could apply to stay permanently after five consecutive years in any EU state and would be free to travel where they wished.”

“The challenge is to attract the workers needed to fill specific gaps,” Frattini said, highlighting that only five per cent of immigrants coming to the EU are skilled workers, compared to 55 per cent arriving in the US.

He said Europe desperately needed labour, both skilled and unskilled, because of a fall in the population of working age. “By 2050, a third of residents in the 27 countries would be aged over 65.”

Though Britain — which is moving to a points-based work permit system from next year aimed at attracting more skilled workers and removing settlement rights from unskilled migrants — is not signed up to common EU borders, it would still be affected if the plans went ahead.

However, the British government has said that it would decide on the proposal after studying the pros and cons.

But, opposition Tories in Britain have criticised the EU’s proposal.