(BRUSSELS) - EU interior ministers were set Thursday to endorse a new "Blue Card" scheme aimed at attracting highly skilled workers to Europe, and adopt new guidelines for managing immigration.

In talks in Brussels, the ministers sought to define the notion of "highly skilled" workers, with consensus forming on the idea that applicants would have to be earning 1.5 times the average salary in the state they hope to work in.

Attempts to define the notion based on qualifications have proved difficult, while a plan to draw up a list of eligible jobs has been dropped, due to broad differences of view among the 27 EU nations.

With their population growth in decline, EU countries are increasingly looking to foreign labour to fill certain jobs. But are struggling to compete with the United States, which attracts roughly twice the number of skilled workers.

The "Blue Card", which takes its name from the EU flag, blue with golden stars and whose name resonates with the US "green card", would entitle highly qualified third-country nationals to a series of rights in any EU nation.

French Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux, chairing the talks as his country holds the EU's rotating presidency, denied that the idea would encourage a brain drain, particularly from Africa.

"The principle is to encourage the mobility of skills and not any brain drain," he told reporters.

But the idea has been vastly watered down from when it was proposed by the European Commission a year ago. It will not allow those who are selected to move as freely around the bloc as first envisaged.

Indeed a person who qualifies would have to apply again should he or she wish to work in another EU country, with the same criteria -- earning 1.5 times the average salary -- applying once more.

"The Blue Card doesn't regulate access to national labour markets," German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaueble said, as he arrived for the talks. "The expectations for the Blue Card have always been exaggerated."

During their short meeting, the ministers are also set to sign off on a "European Pact on Immigration and Asylum", which has been criticised by some African and Latin American nations.

The pact -- a document of political intent but not binding laws -- sets out principles for managing migration, fighting illegal immigration and forming partnerships with countries people leave or travel through to get to Europe.

EU officials and diplomats have said the pact, drawn up by France, is all but agreed. The bloc's leaders are scheduled to rubber stamp it at a summit here on October 15 and 16.

JHA Council

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