Spanish and other employers in the EU will hopefully find it easier to employ people from third-countries after Javier Moreno Sanchez, the Spanish member of the European Parliament tabled a motion to change the current law.
He stated: “The review of the single permit directive will support workers from third countries to reach Europe safely, and European companies to find the workers they need.
“At the same time we will avoid and prevent labour exploitation, by strengthening the rights of third countries’ workers and protecting them more effectively against abuse.”
In short, the European Union’s proposed rule changes aim to simplify work permit procedures, facilitating easier employment for British expatriates and other foreign nationals in Spain and across the EU.
It will still take some time before the new rules are in place. The text of the directive has already been agreed with EU governments but still has to be formally adopted by the EU Council. After that, EU countries will have two years to introduce the changes in their national law.
Additionally, under the proposed revisions, third-country nationals already residing within the EU with valid residence permits will no longer be required to return to their home countries to apply for work permits.
At the moment, hoteliers are having trouble finding skilled labour in the Balearics, despite more than 30,000 unemployed people.
The president of the Mallorca Hotel Federation (FEHM), María Frontera, expressed her concern on Thursday about the “problem of finding skilled labour” in the Balearics, despite the fact that the islands have “30,000 unemployed, which is incomprehensible”.
Frontera explained that “the Balearics is the fifth region with the greatest mismatch between supply and demand in terms of employment skills.
Forty-six percent of workers on the islands occupy a job that is not appropriate to their level of training. 28% are underqualified and 18% are overqualified”.
Frontera also highlighted the impact that the early reopening of hotels has on the Mallorcan economy and placed special emphasis on employment.
“According to data on affiliation of tourist activities at national level, the Balearics is leading the way with a year-on-year growth of 9.5%, being the province with the highest number of new jobs, 23,391 in just half a month. The tourism sector is responsible for 7 out of every 10 jobs created”.