On Thursday, the European Commission opened an infringement procedure against 17 EU member states, including Romania, for failing to transpose into national legislation a directive on attracting highly qualified immigrants from outside the EU to the labor market, EFE news agency reported. Agerpres.

The deadline for transposing the directive is November 18, 2023, so Brussels sent a letter asking for explanations to 17 countries, namely Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. , Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Their governments now have two months to respond to the letter and transpose the directive into national law, or they will receive a reasoned opinion, the second stage of the procedure, the final stage of which is an appeal to the Court of Justice of the EU.

The regulation, known as the EU Blue Card Directive, sets the entry and residence conditions for highly qualified third-country nationals who come to settle and work in one of the EU countries.

The directive introduces more effective rules for attracting highly qualified workers to the EU, including more flexible entry conditions, additional rights and the ability to move more easily between EU countries to find work.