Europe Immigration News

Chinese firms who are eager to invest in EU Countries are complaining about the difficulties involved in obtaining work permits.

"Currently one of the main problems for our companies that want to invest in Europe are the visas and work permits," said Wang Zhiming, vice director of European affairs at China's commerce ministry.

Wang said difficulties in obtaining visas and work permits are obstacles for trade between China and the European Union.

Slovakia may start implementing the European Union's blue card immigration scheme in July, if approved by parliament. The EU blue card is designed to make it easier for non-EU skilled migrants to live and work within the 27 member bloc.

"The Blue Card will enable foreigners from [non-EU countries] to live and work in Slovakia," said Natália Hattalová, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry in a press release.

Irish work permits issued to non-EU citizens are at close to the same level as they were in 2010, according to statistics released by the Department of Enterprise, Jobs, and Innovation.

New research shows that the European Union risks being left behind in the global competition for skilled engineers and scientists.

The study by BusinessEurope states that the inflow of graduates in science and technology is falling across the 27-member bloc.

According to the research Germany is suffering from a shortage of 117,000 skilled workers. Austria reported a 77 percent shortage of skilled labour in 2010.

In keeping with European Union law, Germany has opened its borders to eight central and eastern European countries (the A8 Countries) that joined the 27-member bloc in 2004. The maximum period that Germany and the other EU Countries can keep restrictions on free movement of workers from other EU Countries is seven years. Since 1 May 2011 citizens from the A8 countries have been able to work in Germany and Austria.

For the first time in a decade, Germany has seen an increase in immigration into the country, according to numbers published by the national statistics office.

At the end of 2010, approximately 6.75 million foreign nationals were registered in Germany, bringing the immigrant population of Germany to just over 8 percent. This was a rise of 58,000 over the previous year.