MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the European Commission presented a revised work permit program known as the Blue Card to allow highly skilled workers to legally migrate to the European Union amid skills shortages in health care and information technology sectors.
"Europe now and for the next 20 years will be in need of a large number of migrants, we know it… We shall be in need of millions of people in the future," Avramopoulos said during a press conference.
According to the European Commission, the number of highly skilled third-country national workers currently coming to the bloc is insufficient to address these labor and skills shortages, despite the efforts of Brussels to upgrade the skills of EU nationals under the New Skills Agenda.
Over 1.8 million migrants fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa entered the European Union in 2015, according to the EU border agency Frontex.
