7 Amendments of Thijs BERMAN related to 2007/0228(CNS)
Amendment 7 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) The mobility of highly qualified third- country workers between the Community and their countries of origin should be fostered and sustained. Derogations from Council Directive 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 on the status of third- country nationals who are long-term residents should be foreseen in order to extend the period of absence from the territory of the Community which is not taken into account for the calculation of the period of legal and continuous residence necessary to be eligible for the EC long- term residence status. Longer periods of absence than those provided for in Council Directive 2003/109/EC should also be allowed after highly qualified third-country workers have acquired EC long-term residence status. In accordance with the Commission Communication of 12 April 2005 entitled "Policy Coherence for Development - Accelerating progress towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals" (COM(2005)0134), five targets need to be stressed in order to encourage circular migration, which are as follows: 1) training of workers in developing countries, 2) retention of highly skilled workers in developing countries, 3) promotion of voluntary return to the country of origin by facilitating social and financial security, 4) ethical recruitment by a legally binding code of conduct, and 5) enhancing circular migration by implementing standards on dual citizenship and mutual recognition of diplomas. In particular, to encourage the circular migration of highly qualified third-country workers originating from developing countries, Member States should take into consideration making use of the possibilities offered in Article 4(3), second subparagraph, and Article 9(2) of Council Directive 2003/109/EC to allow for longer periods of absence than those provided for in this Directive. In order to ensure consistency in particular with the underlying development objectives, these derogations should only be applicable if it can be proven that the person concerned has returned to his/her country of origin for work, study or volunteering activities.
Amendment 8 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) Third-country highly qualified workers should enjoy equal treatment as regards social security. Branches of social security are defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community. Council Regulation (EC) No 859/2003 of 14 May 2003 extending the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 and Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 to nationals of third countries who are not already covered by those provisions solely on the ground of their nationality extends the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 to third country nationals who are legally residing in the European Union and who are in a cross-border situation. The provisions on equal treatment as regards social security in this proposal also apply directly to persons coming to a Member State directly from a third country. Nevertheless, this Directive should not confer more rights than those already provided in existing Community legislation in the field of social security for third- country nationals who have cross-border elements between Member States. The Member States should provide at least basic social security, and together with the Commission develop the portability of social and pension rights to ensure return of long-term residents to their country of origin.
Amendment 10 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) In implementing this Directive, Member States should refrain from pursuing active recruitment in developing countries in sectors suffering from lack of human resources. The Commission and Member States should develop and implement a legally binding code of conduct to protect certain sensitive sectors. Ethical recruitment policies and principles applicable to public and private sector employers should be developed in particular in the health sector, as underlined in the Council and Member States' conclusions of 14 May 2007 on the European Programme for Action to tackle the critical shortage of health workers in developing countries (2007-2013). These should be strengthened by the development of mechanisms, guidelines and other tools to facilitate circular and temporary migration, as well as other measures that would minimise negative and maximise positive impacts of highly skilled immigration on developing countries. The EU should make targeted investments to train, deploy and retain staff in sensitive sectors in developing countries such as education and health. Any such intervention must be taken along the lines of the Joint Africa-EU Declaration on Migration and Development agreed in Tripoli on 22 and 23 November 2006 and with a view of establishing a comprehensive migration policy as called for by the European Council of 14 and 15 December 2006.
Amendment 12 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 20 b (new)
Recital 20 b (new)
(20b) The Commission should provide adequate technical assistance and training to developing countries in order to build up effective strategies to retain highly skilled workers through, for instance, development programmes aimed at the improvement of local employment opportunities and improvements in working conditions.
Amendment 15 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) Specific reporting provisions should must be foreseen to monitor the implementation of the highly qualified scheme, also with a view to identifying and possibly counteracting its possible impacts in terms of brain drain the impacts of brain drain, which will probably increase with the application of the EU Blue Card proposal, in developing countries, especially in Sub- Saharan Africa. Data on the professions and the nationality of highly qualified immigrants admitted by Member States should therefore be transmitted annually by Member States through the network created for these purposes by Council Decision 2006/688/EC of 5 October 2006 on the establishment of a mutual information mechanism concerning Member States' measures in the areas of asylum and immigration. Therefore the Commission should carry out an impact assessment on the consequences for developing countries of applying the Blue Card proposal and provide these data to Members States and the European Parliament.
Amendment 19 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 27 a (new)
Recital 27 a (new)
(27a) In order to apply EU legislation and a common strategy for conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of highly qualified employment, the Commission and the Council should express their regret at the non-participation of the UK, Denmark and Ireland in the Blue Card directive and implement a legally binding code of conduct on conditions for third-country nationals.
Amendment 20 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6a Level of Official Development Assistance Member States shall fulfil their Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitments to allocate 0,7% of GDP to development cooperation in order to address the internal push factors for migration.