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The World From Berlin

Germany Shows Red Card to EU's Blue Card Idea

An EU Commission idea to introduce Blue Cards for skilled immigrants, a European version of America's Green Card, has met with a cool response from Germany. Media commentators are skeptical about the merits of a pan-European approach to immigration, and say Germany would be better off training its own unemployed.

European Union Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini has proposed introducing an EU "Blue Card," inspired by the US "Green Card," to attract skilled immigrants to the bloc. "The challenge is to attract the workers needed to fill specific gaps," he said, noting that only 5 percent of people who migrate to the EU were skilled workers, compared to 55 percent arriving in the United States.

The idea drew fire from German Economy Minister Michael Glos who said: "Germany could not take in large numbers of foreign workers just because it needs them at one particular moment."

German media commentators are equally skeptical:

"Red Card for the Blue Card," writes business daily Financial Times Deutschland.

"The question isn't whether Europe needs skilled immigrants. It's whether the fight against the growing lack of skilled workers should be waged on a pan-European level. And the answer is No.

"Not every problem that affects all EU states can be solved most effectively with pan-European measures."

"The national labor markets and what they demand of applicants are simply too different."

"Common action makes sense to prevent illegal immigration. It's already happening in monitoring the sea borders. But America's Green Card doesn't stop hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from crossing the Mexican border into the US, and neither would a Blue Card stop the misery of refugees in the Mediterranean."

Left-wing Berliner Zeitung writes:

"Is Fortress Europe dismantling its walls? By no means. The poor and uneducated, the losers from the south aren't wanted. It's the young, the creative, the specialists whom Brussels wants to attract with its 'Blue Card.'"

"The West's most dynamic societies in economic and cultural terms aren't to be found here, they're in Australia, the US or Canada. Those countries have long been deliberately attracting young, well-educated people from all over the world. Those are societies that seek change. Which dare to engage in new things, to experiment.

"But in Europe, in Germany, the migrant, the stranger is still regarded as a threat. "

Mass tabloid Bild-Zeitung writes:

"The plan is frightening. Do we really need massive immigration from Africa and Asia given that we have 3.7 million unemployed?"

"It makes sense to get skilled workers from abroad. But at the same time every effort must be made to adequately train workers in Germany. Everyone needs to join the effort -- schools, universities, business and corporqations. We can't just rely on immigrants!"

Conservative Die Welt writes:

"The Commission's proposal is worth considering. The EU as an economic area and as a destination for skilled immigrants is competing with better managed regions of the world. The fact that Europe is regarded as a promised land mainly by people who don't bring anything with them is partly a result of misguided policies. National vanities have blocked the kind of practical solutions that were adopted in the US."

David Crossland, 5:00 p.m. CET