Droit Fiscalité belge

On 23 October 2007, the European Commission adopted two legislative proposals on economic migration: 

-          A draft Framework Directive on the admission of highly-qualified migrants to the EU (the “EU Blue Card proposal”), and;

-          A draft Directive establishing a single application procedure for a single residency and work permit and a common set of rights for third-country workers legally residing in the EU.   The blue card would function as a residence permit and work permit in one.

It will operate on a points system for skills and languages with some weight given to family ties.

As an example, an engineer who speaks English and French and who has family in Belgium would have better chances of getting a permit than an unskilled worker who speaks only a little English and has no family in the EU.

Consequently, the blue card will be attached to the individual, not to the job.

The following conditions must be fulfilled in order to be holder of a blue card:

1.      Produce a recognized diploma (it is therefore limited to skilled / suitably qualified workers);

2.      Have at least three years professional experience;

3.      Get a binding job offer for a minimum one-year EU employment contract or an employment contract of minimum one year with a salary of three times the minimum wage of the concerned EU country;

4.      Get a job which could not be filled by an EU citizen (in other words, get a job which faces a skills shortage within the relevant EU Member State).

The blue card will be valid up to 2 years and will be renewable.

The idea is that a card holder would have to work in the Member State which has issued the card for a set period of 2 years and after that, he would be free to seek work elsewhere.

The blue card will not give a right to permanent residency in the concerned EU country. It will give permanent residency automatically after 5 years work under the blue card regime.

Such card allows its holder and families to live, work and travel within the EU.

The blue card scheme unveiled last October has triggered considerable political tensions within the EU and is subject to controversy.

At this stage, the blue card scheme is still a set of ideas which will probably not be finalized on a European level for another 2 years or more.

Once the project will be finalized, Member States will have the choice to opt in or out of the blue card scheme.

To be continued...