Legal migration: EU rules ‘fit for purpose’, need better implementation and communication – report
Current European Union rules on legal migration are “largely fit for purpose” but more efforts are needed to raise awareness about the rights and procedures established by EU legislation and improve their implementation by EU countries, according to a European Commission report.
The European Commission presented on March 29 its assessment of EU legislation on legal migration, as part of the Commission’s Regulatory Fitness and Performance (REFIT) programme.
“This ‘fitness check’ revealed that the current EU rules are largely fit for purpose, providing minimum harmonised procedures and rights for non-EU nationals who follow legal migration paths to the EU,” the Commission said.
At the same time, the report notes that more efforts are needed to raise awareness about the rights and procedures established by EU legislation and improve their implementation by member states.
“In addition, a more harmonised and effective approach should be promoted to attract highly skilled workers,” the Commission said.
Dimitris Avramopoulos, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship said: “As we move from crisis management to finding long-term structural approaches to migration, a more proactive approach to managing legal migration is needed.
“This is about economics, stability, growth. We need to better regulate the existing rights and conditions of all those who come to Europe for study, work or family reasons. This is in the interest of the member states as well as those migrating to the EU legally,” Avramopoulos said.
(Photo: Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry)
