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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 
 
¶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