Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08VIENNA1845
2008-12-16 08:44:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Vienna
Cable title:  

AUSTRIA: EU "BLUE CARD" FACES HURDLES

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM AU 
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RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHVI #1845/01 3510844
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160844Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1700
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 001845 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM AU
SUBJECT: AUSTRIA: EU "BLUE CARD" FACES HURDLES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 001845

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM AU
SUBJECT: AUSTRIA: EU "BLUE CARD" FACES HURDLES


1. (U) Summary: The EU in October passed the European Pact on
Immigration and Asylum, which would establish a "Blue Card"
allowing skilled workers to fill jobs in the EU states, while
also requiring EU members to provide development assistance
to source countries of illegal migration to Europe. The Pact
is not legally binding, and it will be up to individual
states to determine the content and timing of implementation
legislation. Political and economic obstacles are likely to
delay implementation of the Pact in Austria, but in the long
run the effort could deliver benefits for both migrant
workers and EU states, while bringing some needed order to EU
migration policy. End Summary.


2. (U) The European Pact on Migration and Asylum, approved in
October, includes plans to prevent illegal migration, while
emphasizing human rights. There is a particular focus on
abuses committed by some employers who hire illegal migrants,
along with a commitment by the EU to providing greater
assistance aimed at improving living conditions in the source
countries of illegal immigration to Europe.


3. (U) The pact also takes an important step toward
regulating migration and creating a Union-wide program to
direct skilled workers from outside the EU into
country-specific, designated fields. This is accomplished by
creating the European Blue Card, which would enable citizens
from outside the EU to apply for specific work in a specific
EU country. The recipient of the Blue Card could then live
in that country for a designated period of time along with
his or her family. Walter Rochel, MFA Office Director for
Integration Policy, told us Blue Card holders would have the
option to extend the time period.

Potential Problems for Austria
--------------


4. (U) Because the pact is not legally binding, member states
must pass enabling legislation to put the measure into
effect, meaning that implementation is likely to vary among
EU states. During our discussion with Rochel, a number of
potential implementation problems became clear. A Blue Card
holder would be allowed to move to an EU country to work, and
could also bring his family. This would require
participating governments to define which family members
would be eligible to accompany a Card holder. Rochel told us

the GOA would, as a rule, include members of the applicant's
nuclear family, but not, for example, parents of the
applicant, though exceptions could possibly be made in cases
in which the parents were dependents of the Card holder.
Rochel said the MFA would handle applications on a
case-by-case basis.


5. (U) Reviewing applications will also require a significant
amount of funding and manpower from the GOA. It will require
GOA officials to make judgments on an array of complex family
issues. For example, a child of a Card holder in an EU
country would in most cases have to return to his/her country
of origin upon turning 18, since adult children are not
automatically entitled to residency rights. Rochel
explained, however, that the Pact provides some leeway for
authorities to make exceptions and allow children of Card
holders to remain past their 18th birthdays. With GOA
officials making decisions on such issues, there would
potentially be perceptions of bias or inconsistency, Rochel
acknowledged.

Passing Legislation Will Be Difficult
--------------


6. (U) The Pact is vague in setting deadlines for states to
implement the Card, and Rochel indicated to us that the GOA
is not likely to adopt implementing legislation in the near
future. However, he averred that since EU heads of
government had endorsed the Pact, member states would
ultimately have to implement it to avoid being called out by
the European Commission for failing to fulfill their
commitments.


7. (U) Christian Passin, Director for South-East Europe at
the Political Academy of the Austrian People's Party,
suggested that implementation of the Pact could be delayed,
just as the right of free movement for workers from new EU
members Romania and Bulgaria to most other EU countries was
delayed. Though Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007,
their citizens will not be entitled to full freedom of
movement rights within the EU until 2010. The delay was
intended to allow time for the new members to adopt reforms
related to human rights and other issues. Passin noted that
there is an option to lengthen that time period even further,
and he hinted that Austria would likely be in favor of an
extension. If that occurs, the EU Blue Card would certainly

VIENNA 00001845 002 OF 002


have to be postponed, because it would be politically
unacceptable to allow Card holders greater freedom of
movement than citizens of two EU member states, he said.

Impact of Economic Crisis
--------------


8. (U) The provisions of the Blue Card were developed before
the current economic crisis. As a consequence of that
crisis, argued Rochel, it may be more difficult to move
forward on the Blue Card for the time being, since there are
now fewer job openings and more Austrians (and other
Europeans) searching for work. As with other steps in the
development of the EU, this pact can best be implemented when
the European economies are experiencing stable growth.

COMMENT: Result Should be Worth the Wait
--------------


9. (U) Though the Pact lays out a framework for countries to
use when developing national legislation, it leaves many
questions open to debate. The new GOA, faced with the
economic crisis, will not be eager to delve into the
time-consuming task of implementing the Blue Card. As with
many milestones on the road to EU development, the Blue Card
may be slow in coming, and may not function smoothly at
first, but it holds the promise of improvement over the
status quo.
GIRARD-DICARLO