Matthäus Fandrejewski’s intervention was a follow-up from the European Youth Event (EYE), which took place in May this year in Strasbourg, presenting ideas relating to the EU External Action in dealing with migratory flows.

According to Matthäus, there is an urgent need to better recognise and match skills of migrants with the needs on local labour markets in Europe. In particular, he said that following a screening with the help of a new CV-like database, migrants arriving in Europe should, where possible, be matched to Member States which are in need of special skills that they possess – of course, while taking their cultural backgrounds into consideration. Moreover, a harmonised international equivalence system and a more effective scheme for recognition of qualifications should be implemented in order to assess and make use of the professional competences of migrants that were educated and trained abroad. This would maximise chances for migrants to find employment, make a positive impact on the economy and domestic labour markets, and integrate into societies and local civil society structures.

Matching skills of migrants with needs on local labour markets

He said: “As a trade unionist I know how painstakingly difficult it is to find an opportunity on today’s labour market, even for national citizens. When it comes to migrants they face even bigger difficulties as they have to overcome language barriers and not knowing whether your skills are officially recognised will also lead to a lack of self-confidence. The proposal is to create a database where migrants can upload their CV in order to check if their skills match with the needs of the Member State they would like to emigrate to. Once a match has been found, the migrant can send their application to the Member State. Subsequently the Member State can then verify the application and information the migrant whether he/she stands a good chance to find employment according to their skills, qualifications and languages.”

Investments in public services needed

The implementation of his proposal, he said, would however require the political will of decision-makers to invest more in the necessary public services and administrations. A video recording of the debate that took place can be accessed through the European Parliament’s website. A statement by Matthäus is also available on the European Parliament’s Instagram page.