BERLIN, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- German business representatives expressed support for the early draft of a new national law governing the immigration of skilled laborers on Friday.
"The federal government is sending a positive signal to businesses and highly-qualified foreigners by laying out the cornerstones for skilled labor migration," Eric Schweitzer, president of the Association of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), told Handelsblatt newspaper. Schweitzer said the law was overdue given that firms in Germany were suffering from a severe shortage of 1.6 million workers to fill vacant positions.
The proposals unveiled on Thursday night by interior minister Horst Seehofer mark the first time ever that Germany is officially referred to as a "country of immigration" in a piece of national legislation. For decades, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) had refused to accept this definition in spite of the increasingly diverse make-up of the population.
While Seehofer is still keen to establish a more restrictive asylum policy regime, the suggestions he has now made on skilled labor migration aim to facilitate access for foreigners to Germany. Potential criteria to determine whether residence will be granted to so-called "third country nationals" from countries outside of the European Union (EU) include qualification, age, language skills, evidence of a concrete job offer, and the ability to maintain a livelihood.
The outlines for the skilled labor migration law have already been agreed upon by the ruling CDU, CSU and German Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners.
Commenting on Seehofer's proposal, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told press that an effective law would have to provide access to skilled individuals in professions ranging from bakers to engineers. The CDU leader expressed confidence that a final and detailed legislative proposal could be compiled by her cabinet by the start of 2019.
Speaking to Handelsblatt, Schweitzer urged the federal government to treat the matter as an urgent priority. "Now we need a concrete elaboration on the vague outlines -- easier access to the labor market for professionally-qualified foreigners can help alleviate worker shortages in many industries, the DIHK president said.
Schweitzer added that a temporarily limited residence was also needed for skilled laborers with the adequate qualification to come to Germany and look for jobs. He warned against "unnecessary hurdles" in the criteria governing access and emphasized that businesses stood ready to assist policymakers in the successful implementation of the new law.
German opposition politicians on Friday similarly welcomed the migration policy proposals in principle, but warned the government against delaying the process any further and setting conditions for entry which were too stringent.
For the time being, the CDU, CSU and SPD remain internally divided on the subject of a "change of lanes" with regard to the immigration system. Labor minister Hubertus Heil told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland on Friday that he was supportive of creating the legislative possibility to change tracks.
"We must not shoot ourselves in the foot out of ideological reasons by sending the wrong individuals back home," Heil said with regard to asylum seekers who were well-integrated into the German economy and society but had not received humanitarian residence. He sided with Schleswig-Holstein governor Daniel Guenther, the first senior politician to publicly champion the idea.
By contrast, CDU/CSU parliamentary faction leader Volker Kauder questioned the need to enshrine a "change of lane" into a legislation. Kauder told Passauer Neue Presse newspaper that the priority of Merkel's cabinet should be to sign a skilled labor migration law into effect as quickly as possible without "creating new incentives for people to try to come to Germany (as asylum seekers) without fulfilling the necessary criteria."
