EU unveils proposal for biometric short-stay visas

AMSTERDAM — The European Commission (EC) unveiled plans for the introduction of new secure visas for non-EU nationals visiting and travelling in the European Union. Participating member states will upgrade their short-stay visas with a biometric chip containing details of the holder's fingerprint. In time iris and facial scans may be added to the chip. The moves "will reinforce internal security and facilitate legitimate travelling to the EU," the EC said in a statement. Sure to anger privacy advocates, the EC said its proposal on biometric visas "creates the legal obligation to collect fingerprints from visa applicants." The issue will be discussed further with the European Parliament and EU governments. The EC plan also gives the option to EU states to set up joint offices in consulates outside the EU to process visa applications. EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said these 'common application centres abroad' will streamline the procedure and cut time by which applicants receive their travel passes to go to the EU. Read more: Eurogates. Forum of education news

Five sectors open to new EU expats

Five sectors of the Dutch economy are being opened up to expats from the eight Central and Eastern Europe states that joined the European Union in 2004. The Dutch Social Affairs Ministry announced on Wednesday that from 1 June workers from these countries will not have to obtain a work permit to take employment in the agriculture sector, inland shipping, abattoirs, fish processing, scientific research and light engineering. The five sectors are the first to be opened up to workers from Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic because of an actual or threatened shortage of Dutch workers. Ahead of the opening of the borders for all sectors from 1 January next year, junior minister Henk Van Hoof is looking at quick access for nationals of the new EU states sector by sector. Read more: Eurogates. Forum of education news

Education Council calls for international high education

More secondary education students should be able to choose an international curriculum. The Education Council is therefore calling for complete, international curricula within the regular education system. This was one of the conclusions of a recently published advisory report entitled Learning Pathways and the International Baccalaureate (‘Internationale Leerwegen en het Internationale Baccalaureaat’). The Education Council also found that internationalization is still at an early stage of development. It is therefore important that international variants are developed. The Council set out four possible learning pathways, varying from highly internationalized to a regular curriculum with an international dimension. Read more: Eurogates. Forum of education news

Dutch Minister to study Canadian immigration system

Dutch immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk is to visit Canada next week. Canada serves as an example for the Netherlands in terms of immigration policy, the Dutch Justice Ministry said on Monday. Verdonk, who is tipped to become the political leader of the Liberal Party (VVD) on Wednesday, will hold talks with Canadian officials about attracting knowledge immigrants and encouraging newcomers to integrate. They will also discuss border controls and techniques to prevent radicalisation. She will meet with Monte Solberg, Citizenship and Immigration, and Stockwell Day, Public Safety in Ottawa. Verdonk will also have a meeting with Ontario's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Mike Colle and visit a high school in a migrant neighbourhood. Read more: Eurogates. Forum of education news

Integration of foreign students in Dutch student life

Hard to get in touch with the Dutch".The Dutch are nice, but are not open to friendships with foreigners. Germans drive home immediately after a tutorial group meeting and Maastricht has no student life in the weekend. The debate on the integration of foreign students in Dutch student life, organised last Monday by the Maastricht Student Council (MSC), identified the problems in Maastricht student culture. While the lecture hall on the Tongersestraat was packed because of the Schuman lecture at eight o'clock in the evening, eighteen students have made their way to the auditorium on the Minderbroedersberg for the MSC debate. "It is disappointing that we are the only ones who are interested in this," they say. The discussion, however, hardly suffers from it, they feel: "I now know exactly what everyone here thinks about this subject." Read more: Eurogates. Forum of education news

University Maastricht:knowledge centre for foreigners

The Universiteit Maastricht is going to set up a knowledge centre for its employees from abroad. From 1 September, it will be the place where they can find help with questions about insurance, residence permits, labour regulations, but also about life in Maastricht. The centre is being set up because more and more UM employees are from abroad and not all faculties are able to provide adequate help arranging practical matters. The faculties that are already helping their foreign employees have had to invent the wheel. The UM wants to arrange this centrally now, also to avoid faculties telling different stories, for example about recent changes in the health care insurance scheme. "We had many questions and we could see that the information that circulated varied," explains Appie Luermans, director of Personnel and Organisation. Read more: Eurogates. Forum of education news

Tilburg University: one week English programme for law student

Second-year law students will be immersed in an English-language programme for a week each year. The English language will also be more interwoven in the regular study programmes, including the examinations. During the English legal language skills (Ells) course, students will receive substantive lectures in English. Subsequently, they will be required to work in smaller groups using the knowledge acquired in this way to give a presentation, hold a group discussion, and write a paper. The course, worth two ECTS credits, will be given instead of the now compulsory subject Legal English. The new Ells is not a language course, but is aimed specifically at the learning of legal and academic English. Read more: Eurogates. Forum of education news

Dutch switch to points system for knowledge migrants

AMSTERDAM — The Dutch government has agreed to modernise the country's migration procedures. Of particular interest to expats is a new points system for 'knowledge' and 'high-quality' migrants. Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk got cabinet approval on Friday for a simplification of the system which results in a cut in the number of entry and residence permits from 29 to 5 categories. The centre-right coalition government said the reforms better reflect the national interest by combining the country's restrictive entry policy with greater selectivity. "The new policy will be based more on the need for migrants that exists in Dutch society,"... Read more: Eurogates. Forum of education news