Luxembourg, 13 June 2024
Today, the Council agreed its position on a proposal for an EU Talent Pool. The Talent Pool will be set up as an EU-wide online platform that will match profiles of jobseekers from outside the EU with job vacancies for shortage occupations of EU employers. Its aim is to facilitate the recruitment of talent from third countries who live outside the EU, to make the EU labour market more competitive and to tackle shortages on the European labour market.
The Council position aims to reconcile principles of fair recruitment with a secure and comprehensive migration system while also reinforcing the position of the European Union in the global race for talent.
The EU Talent Pool
Jobseekers from third countries will be able to register their profiles on the Talent Pool platform and provide information about their skills, qualifications, work experience and language knowledge. The platform will also contain job vacancies from employers in the EU (in participating member states).
The EU Talent Pool will help to overcome some of the challenges faced both by European employers who want to recruit internationally and by third country jobseekers. These challenges include uncertainty about the accuracy, quality and comparability of qualifications and skills obtained abroad, difficulties in accessing and understanding information about recruitment processes and the high costs associated with these procedures.
As the EU Talent Pool is meant to tackle the problem of labour market shortages, only job vacancies that refer to designated national or EU-wide shortage occupations will be listed on the EU Talent Pool.
Main elements of the Council position
In line with the Commission proposal, participation in the Talent Pool will remain voluntary for member states. However, the Council decided that when member states decide to join the scheme, they should indicate which entities are allowed to take part in the Talent Pool – employers, temporary work agencies, private employment agencies or labour market intermediaries.
The Council has also put in place a withdrawal procedure, with clear rules and a number of safeguards to ensure stability in the system. According to the Council, a participating member state may withdraw from the EU Talent Pool at any time. However, it must notify its decision to the Commission not later than 6 months before the desired exit date.
Next steps
Based on the position member states agreed on today the Council will be able to start negotiations with the European Parliament to find agreement on the final legislation.
Background
The proposal was presented by the European Commission on 15 November 2023. It is part of the skills and talent mobility package of the EU which aims to attract more talent from outside the EU and to facilitate mobility within.