As part of a French-led immigration pact, European Union interior ministers discussed the Blue Card immigration directive on 25 September 2008. The blue card would provide an all-in-one work and residence permit for highly skilled professionals from outside the EU. It's expected that the EU Blue Card will go into effect by 2011.

A recent poll by CFO.com found that the cost of labor and the shortage of skilled labor topped the list of concerns for European Union financial executives.

However, CFOs across Europe are happy with the priorities of EU politicians, who want to bring 20 million migrant workers to the 27-member bloc over the next two decades.

Craig Barrett, in a recent article at the Washington Post, said that the European Union's proposed blue card could shift the talent pool from the United States to the EU.

Rediff news is reporting that the Indian IT industry is "lukewarm" towards the European Commission's prosed blue card immigration scheme. While stating that they needed more time to evaluate the proposal, they feel that doing business in the European Union is expensive and therefore that scheme will not have a significant impact.

The proposed European Union blue card has been getting a lot of press lately, with member states haggling over the details of how it would work and countries such as the United States grumbling about the competition for skilled overseas workers that could ensue. However, governments are notoriously known for moving slow and it could take some time before the blue card is actually implemented.