India bats for unhindered mobility of professionals in EU

Addressing the India-EU Seminar on Talent Mobility, secretary in the ministry of external affairs (consular, passport & visa and overseas Indian affairs) Sanjiv Arora drew the participants' attention towards the challenges and issues faced by Indian skilled professionals, especially in terms of different rules and procedural requirements regarding visa, work permit, taxation, social welfare, family reunification, minimum salary, etc. in different EU countries, despite the EU being a single market.

The EU Blue Card Directive, which sets in conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of highly qualified employment, for instance, has varied widely across the EU mainly due to policy choices by the member states which apply and promote the EU Blue Card in different ways and, in some cases, favour their parallel national schemes.

Also, there have been cultural issues, legal issues and market differences which act or have the potential of acting as constraints for the mobility of entrepreneurs, businesses and professionals from both sides.

These processes are often protracted and complicated and do not necessarily incentivise deployment of foreign nationals, he said, stressing that "there is a need for uniform and coordinated rules for EU-wide employment sectors".

Highlighting the complementarities between the requirements of skills and talents in the EU member states and the vast reservoir of young, educated and skilled persons in India, he said, "As India is moving towards becoming a 5 trillion USD economy before 2025, with envisaged contribution of $3 trillion from services sector, a well-managed mobility of professionals along the India-EU corridor would be beneficial for all."

The seminar was organised last week under the overarching framework of the strategic partnership between India and the EU, of which the Joint Declaration on a Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility was signed in 2016.