Legal Migration and Mobility

Overview

Introduction

This overview presents the key concepts, context, and implementation considerations related to the design of interventions related to legal migration and labour mobility, as well as the proposed results chains and indicators for this thematic area.

It reflects the external dimension of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum and the EU’s broader agenda on skills and talent, situating legal migration and labour mobility within international cooperation frameworks and NDICI‑Global Europe. Interventions in this area aim to design and support legal pathways and mobility schemes that are safe, orderly and well‑managed, generating shared benefits for destination countries, partner countries, employers and migrants and their families (“quadruple‑win”), while fully respecting migrants’ rights and decent work standards within the EU.

Key Definitions

Legal migration refers to migration and mobility that takes place in accordance with the applicable legal framework. Its main channels include migration for work (labour migration), study and research, family reunification, and resettlement. Legal migration, understood as orderly and safe mobility, can benefit destination countries as a driver of economic growth and as a response to demographic change, while also acting as a source of prosperity, innovation and sustainable development for countries of origin.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), labour migration refers to the “movement of persons from one State to another, or within their own country of residence, for the purpose of employment”. This includes qualified professionals, trainees, interns, seasonal workers, and intra-corporate transferees. In the EU’s external cooperation, labour migration is an emerging but increasingly prominent area of work, closely linked to skills development, recognition of qualifications, fair recruitment and the protection of migrant workers’ rights.

SDG Framework

Legal migration and labour mobility interventions particularly contribute to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 on decent work and economic growth and SDG 10 on reducing inequalities, including Target 10.7 on facilitating safe, regular, and responsible migration and mobility of people. They may also contribute to SDG 4 on quality education through skills development and qualifications recognition, SDG 5 on gender equality (including equal access to legal pathways and decent work for women migrant workers), and SDG 17 on partnerships for sustainable development. The international framework in this area is informed by the United Nations Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (2018), as well as relevant ILO frameworks, guidance, and standards.

Context Analysis

Labour shortages, demographic change, and skills mismatches across EU Member States, combined with unemployment and underemployment in many partner countries, have increased the relevance of safe, regular, and well-managed labour mobility schemes. The EU is undergoing a profound demographic transformation, marked by a rapidly ageing population and growing labour market shortages, while many partner countries – particularly those with large youth populations – face persistent underemployment and unemployment. Labour migration can contribute to addressing labour market needs and challenges in destination countries, while also supporting skills development, remittances, investment, knowledge exchange, brain circulation, and employment opportunities in countries of origin.

Well‑designed labour migration programmes can therefore generate a “quadruple‑win”: they help destination countries fill labour and skills gaps; create opportunities for skills development, employment and brain circulation in countries of origin; support employers in accessing needed skills; and provide migrants and their families with better prospects, increased incomes and opportunities for mobility, when grounded in fair recruitment, skills recognition and possibilities for circular migration.

At the same time, several factors may hinder the potential benefits of legal migration and labour mobility. These include limited institutional capacities, weak labour migration governance systems, insufficient recognition of qualifications and skills, and inadequate coordination between countries of origin and destination. Labour migration may also generate negative impacts on countries of origin, such as brain drain and brain waste, particularly in relevant sectors (e.g. health), if not carefully managed and aligned with partner countries’ development and human resource strategies. Additional challenges relate to unequal access to legal pathways, unfair recruitment practices, risks of exploitation, limited access to information and support services, and migrant workers’ rights and decent work standards. Labour mobility partnerships may also face constraints related to scalability, implementation costs, stakeholder coordination, and the fact that visa and work permit issuance remain under the competence of EU Member States.

In addition, expanding from small‑scale pilots to sustainable, larger‑scale schemes often depends on building trust and political will between partner countries and Member States, aligning mobility offers with broader migration partnerships (including cooperation on return and readmission) and ensuring that operational tools (such as matching platforms or one‑stop shops) are accessible and user‑friendly for both candidates and employers.

EU Policy Priorities

As per the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, the EU aims to facilitate safe, regular, and well-managed legal migration pathways in line with labour market needs and broader economic and social objectives, while supporting cooperation with partner countries on migration management. In its external dimension, the Pact frames legal pathways and labour migration as key elements of comprehensive, mutually beneficial migration partnerships with third countries, where increased opportunities for regular mobility are linked to strengthened cooperation on return and readmission. This approach is further supported by several European Commission initiatives and policy documents, including the 2022 Communication Attracting Skills and Talent to the EU, the 2023 Skills and Talent Mobility Package, the Recommendation on the Recognition of Third Country Nationals’ Qualifications, the Recommendation on Learners’ Mobility, and the 2025 Communication Union of Skills, among others.

Talent Partnerships constitute the EU’s flagship framework for structured and mutually beneficial skills and mobility schemes with selected partner countries. As of early 2026, Talent Partnerships had been launched with Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In parallel, the proposed EU Talent Pool is conceived as an EU-level digital platform to facilitate the matching of interested and pre-screened third-country candidates with EU employers, particularly in sectors facing labour shortages. The EU has also launched a European Legal Gateway office in India focused on the ICT sector.

Through EU’s external actions, the EU supports partner countries in strengthening migration governance systems, institutional capacities, and cooperation frameworks related to legal migration and labour mobility, including through support to skills development and labour mobility partnerships.

Consideration for the design of interventions

Interventions on legal migration and labour mobility should be designed in line with relevant EU, international, and national legal and policy frameworks, while fostering complementarities and synergies with other relevant EU initiatives and cooperation programmes. They should be developed in continuous coordination with countries of origin and destination, as well as with national and local authorities, employers, education and training institutions, private sector actors, civil society organisations, social partners, and other relevant stakeholders. The generic results chain proposed for this topic is aligned with EU commitments and good practice formulation standards in the sector and may serve as a reference for the design of related interventions.

Results chains must consider labour market needs, migration governance systems, and existing mobility arrangements and partnerships to ensure relevance and sustainability. They should address key factors affecting labour migration and mobility systems (see context analysis).

The sector guidance indicators in this thematic area should be used, where relevant, to measure the results of specific interventions, without modifications or adaptations, in order to facilitate the aggregation of results across logframes and support greater alignment and comparability between interventions. Selected indicators may be combined with additional indicators, as appropriate to the intervention context and expected results.

Where interventions focus on specific sectors such as employment and vocational education and training (VET), education, social protection, governance, private sector development, digitalisation, gender equality, or remittances, it is strongly recommended to also consult relevant results chains and indicator guidance developed for those sectors.