EU Blue Card Scheme: The Impact of Inconsistent Implementation

In 2021, the European Union issued a new directive for an updated EU Blue Card, aiming to make Europe a more attractive destination for highly skilled professionals (especially in the information technology sector).

Amidst the global competition for talent, it is a crucial initiative. Except for Denmark and Ireland (which both opted out of the EU Blue Card regime), EU Member States had until 18 November 2023 to implement these upgrades.

Despite these good intentions, however, delayed or inconsistent national implementation that risks fragmenting the regulatory landscape could undermine the original vision of a Europe that offers unified and EU-wide skilled labour immigration options. This could ultimately harm the continent’s status as a preferred destination for highly skilled labour.

Core Principles

At its core, the EU Blue Card scheme has several key principles designed to amplify Europe’s status as a destination for skilled labour.

First, it facilitates mobility within the EU. For instance, over time, Blue Card holders acquire rights to move to, and work in, other EU countries. This means migrants eventually have access to the entire EU labor market and are not restrained to working in only one Member State.

The Blue Card also mandates that cardholders enjoy working conditions, education, qualification recognition, social security (including unemployment benefits) and freedom of association rights that are equivalent to the citizens of their host EU Member State.

It also offers favourable conditions for family reunification, as well as long-term residency rights in the EU.

New Regime

Historically, however, various national skilled-labour immigration pathways in the EU have often provided more attractive routes for migrants, offering lower salary thresholds and quicker processing times. The updated EU Blue Card—by making the regime more attractive and accessible—seeks to stave off such national competition.

It pursues this goal in a few ways. The rights facilitating intra-EU mobility have been eased. This leverages the EU’s supranational advantage; something no national regime can offer.

Furthermore, the range of potentially eligible applicants has been expanded to better capture highly skilled applicants who have professional experience but not a diploma.

Elsewhere, the minimum job offer duration has been reduced, restrictions on changing employers have been relaxed, and the regulations around dependents are now more accommodating, among other changes.

Fragmented Implementation

In practice, however, a fragmented national implementation may ultimately undermine such improvements.

First, Member States have not transposed the directive at the same pace. Some states successfully introduced national legislation by the deadline of 18 November 2023; many, however, have not. These late arrivals now require an extension for full implementation. If this situation persists, the regulatory landscape will be fragmented.

Second, regardless of delays in transposition, there is the risk of variation between national legislation once implemented. The new directive (often through ‘may clauses’) provides considerable discretionary leeway to Member States regarding national implementation.

For instance, one Member State can decide to proffer a uniquely preferential minimum salary treatment; another Member State may decide to aggressively liberalize its quotas framework; while a third may adopt a more permissive approach to substituting professional experience for educational qualifications. And, of course, states may decide to impose uniquely restrictive approaches – limiting intake under the Blue Card pathways.

Eligibility under the new EU Blue Card for applicants with professional experience but no relevant educational qualifications also presents an issue.

In Germany, applicants who have three years of professional experience in information technology (IT) may be eligible, while no one else could be eligible for this diploma-free pathway. In Italy, meanwhile, three years of IT experience will secure eligibility, but so will five years of professional experience in certain non-regulated roles.

The minimum salary level (MSL) landscape is equally varied. In Germany, the EU Blue Card MSL is bifurcated cleanly between shortage and non-shortage occupations (with the former category having a lower figure). In Italy, there is no EU Blue Card MSL regime; rather, sector-specific collective bargaining agreements rule the field.

This variation in national implementation—both in terms of delays and in terms of substantive differences—risks repeat fragmentation, which in turn brings into question whether the EU Blue Card system can ever provide an attractive skilled immigration pathway that functions holistically across the EU.

The Blue Card’s purpose is to make Europe, as a whole, open to highly skilled talent; not just parts of it. A multi-national business with offices across Europe may find it frustrating when its top talent can easily enter one country on a Blue Card, but not another.

Alignment is important because it provides clarity and predictability for employers when sending employees to different EU Member States. It also reduces the inefficient need for companies to visa-shop – obtaining a visa in one country as part of eventually gaining access to another country.

Such a workaround—using intra-EU mobility as a partial ‘loophole’—ultimately creates significant delays for employers looking to relocate employees to countries with more ‘difficult’ EU Blue Cards.  

Additional Considerations

Further compounding this issue is the fact that national immigration programmes continue to be powerful competitors, offering more favourable minimum requirements and processing times compared to the new Blue Card regime.

Countries have not been forced to align their EU Blue Card-related salary thresholds with those of their parallel national schemes. Accordingly, Member States are likely to continue offering comparatively more favorable salary thresholds under their national schemes. Additionally, it also does not help that the EU Blue Card is poorly publicised, with many employers simply not knowing of its existence.

Given these issues of fragmentation and continued national competition, along with the lack of publicising and, therefore, a lack of understanding on the part of national authorities, the new Blue Card may still struggle despite its many improvements (including better European mobility rights).

To ensure the EU Blue Card is the ‘go-to’ work permit for foreign talent, the scheme may need to expand yet further its Europe-wide benefits, while also removing some barriers at the national level. 

Furthermore, the Blue Card’s focus on highly skilled talent does little to address the severe skills shortages seen across Member States for skilled or non-skilled roles. Here, national schemes are the only option. This means the potential visa types and requirements for such migrants will vary greatly across jurisdictions, with some providing only limited pathways – or none at all.

Looking Ahead

Ultimately, the question remains whether the European Union will ever be able to attract talent through a centralised legislative initiative.

As the deadline for transposition to the new Blue Card was 18 November 2023 and, in any event, most Member States have still not domestically implemented the directive, a clear reading of the situation will likely not become available until spring 2024 – if not later.

Regardless, observers will be keen to see if and how the new Blue Card affects migration patterns both into, and across, the EU.

Need to Know More?

Fragomen professionals work with governments at both EU and national levels to voice the needs of the private sector. If you are struggling to find ways to get your employees into various EU countries, please contact members of the Fragomen Consulting Europe team, including Partner Jo Antoons at [email protected], Managers Harry Goldstraw at [email protected] and Andreia Ghimis at [email protected] or Lead Analyst Dominic Dietrich at [email protected]. Fragomen Consulting Europe provides strategic European workforce planning solutions, ensuring business continuity and growth.

This blog was published on 9 January 2024, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram