The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a reform of EU immigration laws to better attract the skills it lacks, especially from Ukraine, and facilitate the mobility of these workers between the 27 member countries. .
Brussels wants to simplify the procedure for third-country nationals to jointly obtain a work and residence permit in the EU, while reducing processing times.
These include allowing people to apply from their country of origin and improving their rights.
This single permit will no longer be linked to a single employer and its beneficiaries will therefore be able to change jobs completely legally.
The Commission also wants to facilitate the granting of long-term resident status which can be granted after five years of legal residence in an EU country.
It proposes to recognize in these five years the periods of residence in different Member States, facilitating the mobility of these people within the Twenty-Seven.
Improved family reunification
Study times in the EU will be taken into account.
Just like the period of reception under temporary protection, lasting a maximum of three years, from which millions of Ukrainians fleeing the war benefit in particular, which will speed up their access to long-term resident status.
Furthermore, the associated rights will be improved, in particular concerning family reunification: no integration conditions, access to the labor market for family members, and immediate granting of long-term resident status to the children of persons under this status.
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Why wouldn't it be right away
In addition to these legislative changes, the Commission is proposing operational improvements.
The EU executive would like to implement by summer 2023 an EU-wide platform on which candidates for immigration from third countries can upload their profile, in order to help companies find the skills they need. they need.
Brussels would like to test a pilot project concerning only Ukrainian migrants this summer.
The EU welcomes every year 2.5 to 3 million people legally on its territory for work or studies.
In the context of the war in Ukraine, it is facing an exceptional influx of 5 million people fleeing this country.
Suspend all customs duties on Ukrainian products for one year
The European Commission also proposed on Wednesday to suspend for one year all customs duties on Ukrainian products imported into the EU in order to support the economy of the country attacked by Russia.
This proposal, which still needs to be approved by the European Parliament and the 27 member countries, is "an unprecedented gesture of support for a country at war", the European executive said in a statement.
The United Kingdom had already announced on Monday the elimination of its customs duties on products imported from Ukraine.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she initiated the measure after discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"We both agree on the crucial importance of a suspension of tariffs to support Ukraine's economy," she said, quoted in the statement.
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Bilateral trade between the EU and Ukraine represented 52 billion euros of exchange last year, according to the European executive, a figure which has doubled since 2016. But, since the end of February and the outbreak of the war by Russia, Ukraine's agricultural and industrial production was badly affected, as well as its trade relations with the rest of the world, the country's access to the sea being notably blocked by the Russian navy.