EU okays 'Blue Card' to lure skilled migrants

European Union envoys agreed yesterday on a fast-track "Blue Card" scheme to attract high skilled migrant workers from developing countries in a bid to compete with the US Green Card, the French EU Presidency said.

The Blue Card, valid for a maximum of four years, will offer candidates speedier work permits and make it easier for migrants' families to join them, find public housing and acquire long-term resident status.

It aims to make the bloc more competitive in a battle with the United States and other ageing Western societies for coveted technology workers and hospital staff from the developing world, increasingly needed to plug labor gaps.