France would have everything to gain by increasing the immigration of qualified foreigners, defends a note published on Tuesday, November 9 by the Economic Analysis Council (CAE), which notably proposes the establishment of a “
points
” selection system candidates for immigration.
Read alsoImmigration: Valérie Pécresse praises her solutions
“
Immigration in France is, compared to that of other OECD countries, poorly qualified, poorly diversified and few in number.
However, a considerable amount of economic studies demonstrate the benefits of skilled and diversified labor immigration
”, in terms of innovation, entrepreneurship and therefore growth and productivity, underlines this note from the CAE, an organization responsible for advising the government.
"Rethinking migration policy"
Far from the "
burden
" denounced in a public debate "
dominated by questions of identity and security
", the authors of the note recall, for example, that in the United States, immigrants, who represent 13% of the population, are origin of 24% of patents filed between 1940 and 2000, and they represent 26% of entrepreneurs in this country leading the way in attracting foreign talent.
In France, 8% of patents are filed by immigrants, who represent around 10% of the population.
Read also Does Brexit prove that immigration is pulling wages down?
Other “
benefits
” of skilled immigration: the diversity of places of birth of a company's employees is a source of greater productivity, and the effects of diaspora networks create “
bridges
” with other countries that stimulate trade foreign and foreign investment.
The ACE therefore recommends “
rethinking
national
migration policy
”, by developing “
varied
”
immigration channels
in terms of geographic origin.
Creation of "talent passport"
The note advocates in particular the creation of a point-based visa system, on the model of those existing in Canada or Australia, which has the merit of being "
transparent, fair and efficient
", but also "
flexible
" in terms of the criteria. privileged in the profile of candidates for immigration. "
This gives a signal to qualified immigrants that they are welcome
", while France, only 19th in the "
competitiveness and talents
"
ranking
carried out by the INSEAD management school, "
is not attractive in terms of immigration. qualified
”, insists Emmanuelle Auriol, co-author of the note.
Created in 2016 to promote the reception of qualified young people, the “
talent passport
” should be used more and target certain countries, such as India, which have a surplus of young graduates compared to the integration capacity of their job market. job.
In 2019, only 13,500 passports were issued under this system, which "
does not make it possible to reverse the trend of low-skilled, undiversified and low-volume immigration
", notes the note.
To read also "The left and immigration: Montebourg alone against all?"
If France is the fourth host country for international students behind the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, the reception of these students must also be improved to attract talent, with more courses in English in higher education and an improvement in the quality of education.
Finally, the CAE recommends facilitating the granting of residence permits to students at the end of their course, by relaxing the eligibility criteria, while according to a study, only 21% of foreign students are still present in France at the end of their studies. - more than five years spent in the territory.