On 26 March, the European Commission’s Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME) and the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) co-chaired the first meeting of the Talent for Innovation Attraction Platform. The event gathered experts on migration and employment from the Labour Migration Platform and innovation experts from the European Innovation Council Forum as well as other stakeholders working in the field of migration, employment, research and education.
Participants exchanged views on how to best attract and retain talent for the EU competitiveness, while officially launching the Talent for Innovation Attraction Platform and its work ahead.
Participants welcomed the initiative, as it promotes a more structured coordination among relevant actors in the migration, employment and innovation fields when it comes to talent attraction and retention. Participants pointed to labour shortages in innovation-related sectors and the need to attract profiles that are particularly needed to fill those gaps.
Some Member States mentioned persisting challenges related to procedures on the ground, such as lengthy visa procedures, complex and varied procedures for the recognition of qualifications and validation of skills, lack of a smooth transition of graduates from study to work, or researchers from pure research to business and market (including to possibly set up startups). Some member states also noted the need to balance the facilitation of talent attraction with the essential safeguards related to security checks and fraud detection.
Participants highlighted measures that could attract and retain talent, such as increasing information and financial support, strengthening employment engagement and careers prospects, including competitive salaries, career pathways and tax incentives, as well as improving retention conditions, through long-term residence prospects, parental and childcare support, access to housing, and social security.
The Platform will play a key role in gathering insights and national expertise on attracting talent for innovation. It will also support the upcoming work on the necessity and feasibility of an ‘Omnibus’ approach to improve admission of global talent studying, researching and working in key sectors for the EU’s competitiveness and innovation.
The next meeting of the Talent for Innovation Attraction Platform will focus on talent attraction and retention in education and research. It is planned for May or June 2026.
Background
On 29 January, the Commission adopted its first-ever EU Visa Strategy, setting out a framework for a visa policy that also fosters EU prosperity and competitiveness.
Alongside the Strategy, the Commission also adopted a
on attracting talent for innovation, to make the EU more attractive to highly skilled professionals, students, researchers and entrepreneurs. The Recommendation announced that the Commission would convene a Talent for Innovation Attraction Platform to bring together experts on migration, employment, education and innovation to ensure coordination between public authorities and stakeholders.
