Conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of highly qualified employment

The Council held a policy debate on two key aspects of the Commission proposal:

1. the criteria to be adopted for the third-country nationals concerned to be able to have access to highly qualified employment;
2. the relationship between the arrangements set out in the proposal and national systems.

The Council was largely in favour of complementary application of the European Blue Card scheme and national arrangements for issuing residence permits for employment purposes.

On the question of the criteria to be adopted in order for nationals of countries concerned to be admitted, the delegations expressed different points of view, particularly on the question of pay and the professional experience to be taken into account when defining a highly qualified worker.

The Council asked its preparatory bodies to continue working on this proposal for a Directive. The proposal is one of the priorities on the French Presidency work programme.