Despite the issue of refugees and illegal migration grabbing the headlines across Europe, the EU requires high-skilled labour and this demand cannot be met from within its own borders. European economic growth, business competitiveness and labour markets all suffer as a result. The Directive on Intra-Corporate Transferees (ICTs) was adopted in order to address this shortfall, given the clear shortages in sectors like computer programming and engineering.

The full range of simplifications and options available in the ICT Directive are still not offered across the EU. The current patchwork means that arbitrary quota systems exist in some countries; approval/rejection processes are different across the EU; some countries do not have a fast track system; and intra-EU mobility as well as the ability of ICTs to work at customer sites is limited in certain EU Member States. Moreover, the entire process is often slow and administratively heavy too, meaning that businesses cannot get the skills they need, when they need them. The result is that companies and the economy as a whole lose out.

The new policy brief "Intra-corporate Transferees (ICTs): The benefits for the EU and the opportunity cost" authored by Glen Hodgson outlines recommendations for each of the above areas and highlights some best practice.

To preview and download the brief please use this link.

Moreover, our Repository contains the latest publications of the Migration Observatory and Training Academy of the Prague Process.

• Policy brief by Kristof Tamas "Making the EU’s Migration and Development Policies More Coherent" 
• Policy brief by Andriy Orlean "Countering Human Trafficking: Identifying, Returning and Assisting Victims from Ukraine" 
• Policy brief by Olga Gulina "Russian nationals looking for refuge in the European Union"
• Policy brief by Dmitry Poletaev "Russia’s Migration Policies after the dissolution of the Federal Migration Service"
• Policy Brief by Yan Matusevich "The EU Central Asia Strategy and Its Impact on Migration"
• Policy brief by Kristof Tamas "Assessing the EU's External Migration Policy"
• Training Manual "How to be a good trainer?"
• Policy Brief by Nermin Oruc and Danica Santic "Highly-skilled Return Migrants to the Western Balkans: Should we count (on) them?"
• Analytical Report by Yelena Sadovskaya "China's "Belt and Road" Initiative and Its Impact on Migration Flows and Policies in Central Asia"
• Policy Brief by Petros Aghababyan "Closing the policy gaps concerning an eventual mass influx of asylum seekers to Armenia"
• Policy Brief by Yan Matusevich "Evaluating the Future of Uzbek Labour Migration"
• Analytical Report by Ivanka Heinzl "Report on the National Action Plan to Fight Trafficking in Human Beings of the Republic of Azerbaijan"
• Policy Brief by Haykanush Chobanyan "Assessing Armenia’s Migration Strategy for 2017-2021"
• Policy Brief by Natia Mestvirishvili "Circular Migration Schemes in Georgia"
• Policy Brief by Katerina Ivashchenko-Stadnik "Ukraine: First visa-free year since introducing the visa-free regime"