

EU 'Blue Card' to target skilled immigrants - muriithi
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7057575.stm

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bluishgreen
"The scheme, which is more restrictive than the US Green Card, would need the
approval of all 27 EU member states."

ROFL. Good luck with that.

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corentin
I'm not knowledgeable enough about economics yet but I find it strange that
the same rules don't apply whether we're talking about capital, goods or
individuals. If we agree that exchange benefits both parties, why not fully
open everything? Why do "businesses demand graduates from India and China"?

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davidw
It would be nice, and I'd like to see the world move that way, but there are
practical issues. If a million people from China or India descended all of a
sudden on, say, Denmark, there would be chaos.

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sriram_sun
I'm Indian. Got a grad degree from a school in the US. I work in the US. High
Tech Migrant Labourer (TM). H1B. Skill Set: you name it I got it ;). Most
Indians I know would stick to English speaking countries, but the Chinese are
a little more flexible as they have to pick up a new language anyways. Indians
don't really have as many reasons as the Chinese to leave the motherland and
stay abroad as politically, it is a lot more "free" than China. Both countries
are finding it hard to find graduates to employ even in their own countries.
So the exodus is not going to happen anytime soon. For right or wrong _my_
perception is that most of EU is not socially evolved enough to become a
multi-cultural community like the US (at least the big cities). Most of
America is not either. France, no path to citizenship after generations of
settling there? No thanks! So I think Denmark is safe for now!

But, OTOH, the good thing about being a high tech migrant labourer is aaah
choices... choices.. :). If the dollar tanks, now there will only be more
countries to choose from.

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davidw
Like I said, I support the free movement of people, goods and money. I'm
american and live in Europe, and being able to stay here legally was actually
quite a hassle, so I have an inkling of what a problem it is for some people.

The practical problem though, as I said, was the large amount of people in a
small amount of time that could potentially happen if you completely threw the
borders open. 1 million people in India or China is a very small percentage of
the population. In a country like Denmark (just as an example), it would
represent 20% of the population. That's not likely to happen any time soon,
but hopefully we will keep moving in that direction over time.

