Mapping Legal Pathways to EU Member States

The MPF and ECDPM (European Centre for Development Policy Management) mapped labour market needs and analysed national migration systems of four EU member states to investigate

• how prepared the respective infrastructures are to respond to growing needs for workers, and

• how existing labour migration pathways could be pragmatically used in the context of establishing Talent Partnerships.

Key findings show that the growing need for skills, knowledge and workers at various skill levels may become more profound in the coming decades, and the socio-political acceptance of an increase in labour migration will play an important role in shaping future approaches to labour migration. Legal migration systems offer a variety of options for labour migrants from third countries to enter EU member states, but are not always optimal in responding to changing economic needs. A more harmonised European approach in collecting data and sharing information, along with a simplified and streamlined recognition of qualifications at the EU-level could be useful to work more efficiently in the context of Talent Partnerships.

More information can be found in Case Studies (Full) and the overarching Policy Brief which analyses findings across all four case studies. Summaries of each study are available, along with Visualisations that provide an overview of legal pathways towards each country.