Talent Mobility Package

Key points

The EESC:

• underlines that is highly important for the EU Talent Pool (TP) to be a practical, reliable, easy to use tool that is attractive for workers and employers and supports fair and ethical legal labour migration into the EU;
• points out that third-country nationals already present on EU territory (asylum applicants, people without work permits, people that have entered the EU for reasons of family reunification) constitute an under-used pool of potential workers that can help meet labour market needs. These people need to be supported to facilitate their labour market integration;
• asks the MSs to ensure there is a welcoming environment for migrant and refugee workers in all Member States, and to work in cooperation with the social partners and civil society organisations on changing the negative discourse and narrative surrounding legal migration;
• recommends to implement the TP initiative in conjunction with the EU Harnessing Talent initiative to avoid causing a brain drain – within the EU and towards the outside of the EU – in professions where there is a shortage of workers. Circular migration can be a useful tool in this respect as well;
• underlines the need that skills and competences of workers from third countries should be assessed and swiftly validated to ensure that their skills are certified and they can obtain their qualifications when necessary. Procedures should aim to reduce the administrative burden of proof for applicants, especially when documents may have been left behind or lost during the migration journey;
• calls on the Member States to ensure public investment in schools and educational institutions to ensure their capacity to provide quality and trustworthy guidance and advice on learning mobility opportunities supporting career development, lifelong learning; this must be freely available in order to motivate learners to apply for learning mobility to another EU country;
• requests Member States to ensure teachers' learning mobility by overcoming the problems of replacement and teacher shortage. The profession needs to be made attractive, with good working conditions, fair salaries, access to quality initial education, continuous professional development and career development to ensure the quality education.