A programmer's blue dream

Germany will train its own talents so as not to let in strangers

Europe is waiting for qualified immigrants - recently the European Commissioner for Justice and Security Franco Frattini announced the preparation of new rules for the entry into EU countries of certain categories of persons. Mr. Frattini noted that in 2006, about 70 thousand labor migrants entered the EU. According to Brussels' plans, their number should at least double in five years.

The EU is waiting for holders of skills in short supply - engineers, programmers, technicians, representatives of the natural sciences. Among European youth, these professions are losing their former prestige, which is also observed in Germany. This is the fault of politicians - under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the abandonment of nuclear energy was lavishly advertised, as a result, the number of people wishing to study nuclear physics and related sciences at universities has decreased.

The “blue card”, which is being prepared for introduction in the European Union, is intended to compensate for the lack of brains. It is similar to the American “green card” (green card), but you cannot get it by lottery. A qualified applicant will be required to present either an existing employment contract for at least a year or an offer from a potential employer. A “blue card” for employment is supposed to be issued for two years, after which the holder of the document will be ordered to leave the EU. But if he finds a job under an employment agreement and stays there for another three years, he will be able to apply for an indefinite residence permit.

In Germany there are over 150 thousand vacancies for representatives of scarce professions. The Cologne Institute of German Economics has calculated that the annual economic loss from a lack of labor resources reaches 18 billion euros. But German politicians are not enthusiastic about the European Blue Card. Labor Minister Franz Müntefering and Economics Minister Michael Gloss proposed first mobilizing the untapped potential of the German labor market. “The employment of women and older people must be given priority over migrant workers,” Bavarian Economics Minister Emilia Müller summed up the opinion of her Berlin colleagues. The German Minister for Education and Research, Annette Schavan, considers it necessary to increase the authority of education and high qualifications in the country itself. On November 14, the government will launch a public initiative under the loud name “National Offensive in Qualification.”

At the beginning of the decade, Chancellor Schröder was an ardent supporter of “opening the floodgates” to foreigners. His government had already intended to introduce something like "green cards", the law was supposed to come into force on January 1, 2003. But the constitutional court vetoed it and put an end to the wide flow of “Hindus” , as the then oppositionists represented by the CDU/CSU dubbed potential immigrants to Germany . They raised the cry “Children instead of Hindus” and called on society to pay more attention to training its own qualified personnel.

Yesterday, Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed her intention to turn the situation in favor of “the children.” She visited the laser laboratory in Göttingen, where she outlined gloomy prospects: by 2030, the working-age population of Germany will decrease by five million, and then “it will be necessary to fight with our hands and feet for engineers and workers in the natural sciences.” At the same time, Frau Merkel, a nuclear physicist by training, praised the local laboratory as a “successful example” of instilling in children a love of science and technology.

Yuri Shpakov, Berlin