There will be no one to work in Ukraine: the impact of joining the EU labor market.
Isn't it interesting to wonder whether the Ministry of National Unity and the Ministry of Economy communicate with each other at all?
The newly established Ministry of National Unity has announced programs for the return of Ukrainian refugees to Ukraine. One reason for this is the structural labor shortage in key sectors of the Ukrainian economy.
At the same time, the Ministry of Economy is taking steps towards the maximum integration of Ukrainians into the European labor market.
Quoting a message from the Ministry of Economy:
"The government approved the Action Plan for joining the European Employment Services (EURES) network at the meeting on October 29 (2024 — ed.).
Thus, Ukraine is beginning the preparatory stage for joining the European employment structure, in accordance with the recommendations of the European Commission presented in the Progress Report on Ukraine within the 2023 EU Enlargement Package.
The adopted plan is a significant step towards integration into the European labor market and the introduction of free movement of workers.
The preparatory activities outlined in the plan are aimed at establishing a foundation for joining EURES.
In particular, this involves examining the compatibility of Ukrainian systems and structures with EURES requirements, implementing regulations that will allow Ukraine to effectively interact with European labor databases.
"In addition to the need to ensure legislative compatibility of existing Ukrainian systems with European standards, there must also be appropriate technical compatibility — for effective matching of job vacancies and resumes.
To achieve this, we need to enhance our internal information systems, adapt certain technical aspects, which will ensure the compliance of the data required for EURES," explains the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine — Minister of Economy Julia Svyrydenko.
It should be noted that EURES currently supports the free movement of labor in 31 countries of the European Union and the European Economic Area.
The platform contains over 4 million job vacancies and is quite convenient and effective for employers and job seekers in Europe.
Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Tatiana Berezhnaya notes that the current action plan is largely focused on studying the experiences of countries that have already gone through the process of joining EURES, particularly Poland and Croatia.
"There are several issues that require thorough investigation to ensure that Ukraine effectively joins the EURES network.
These include: the compliance of the national classification of professions with international and European norms and standards, the role of intermediaries in the labor market, coverage of EURES by job seekers and interns, etc.," explains Tatiana Berezhnaya.
So, do you understand what is happening?
The EU is, among other things, a common labor market for all member countries.
Of course, labor from less developed EU countries moves to wealthier ones. However, the former have the opportunity to fill this gap from third countries, particularly from Ukraine. For instance, Poles go to Britain, while Ukrainians go to Poland.
Additionally, less developed EU countries receive significant financial assistance from the European Union for "regional leveling" of economic, social, and infrastructure development indicators.
And all these countries live in peace.
Now imagine that programs like EURES for job vacancies in the EU cover a poor country with uncertain timelines for joining the European Union, which is experiencing the most destructive war since World War II.
This is essentially a path to a complete loss of labor potential. This happens because officials only see their "fragment of the puzzle" and have no concept of an overarching development strategy. They have been "assigned a plan" to maximize "adaptation to EU accession" — and there they are "digging the ground." Each in their own "direction."
Many of us, of course, wouldn't mind if our university graduates could quickly find jobs in the EU, but then why is there a Ministry trying to bring Ukrainians back home if another agency is doing everything possible for Ukrainians to quickly find work in Europe (including all Ukrainians, both refugees and those currently living in Ukraine)?
Certainly, Ukraine will not be able to compete for labor with EU countries during the war and for a long time after. We need to make a decision here. There is a clear logical error in this algorithm.
Either maximize the outflow of labor to the EU through programs like EURES or at least refrain from facilitating this outflow at the expense of the state budget and the work of Ukrainian officials.
The author expresses a personal opinion that may not coincide with the editorial position. The responsibility for the published data in the "Opinions" section lies with the author.