Migration Advisory Committee publishes its key report on EEA migration ahead of Brexit

Following last week's report on international students, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has today published its long-awaited and hugely significant report on European Economic Area (EEA) migration ahead of Brexit.

Image credit: UK GovernmentThe 140-page report is here and further related documents can be accessed from here.

The report provides a detailed assessment of the impact of EEA migration and MAC's recommendations for the UK's post-Brexit work immigration system.

As highlighted by BBC News, the headline recommendation in the MAC report is that free movement for EU nationals should end and EEA workers should be given "no preference" for visas to come to work in the UK after Brexit.

The MAC report fully acknowledges, however, that this is dependent on the ongoing Brexit negotiations between the EU and the UK and would require a situation where the UK is able to decide its future migration system in isolation. MAC also clarifies that its findings should not be taken as a recommendation that migration should be excluded from negotiations with the EU, and the report notes that the UK may be able to trade-off some preferential access for EU citizens to the UK in return for benefits in other areas of the negotiations, such as trade.

"If the UK is in a position where it is deciding the main features of its immigration policy our recommendation is that there should be a less restrictive regime for higher-skilled workers than for lower-skilled workers in a system where there is no preference for EEA over non-EEA workers," the report states.

MAC believes that the problem with free movement is that it leaves migration to the UK solely up to migrants and UK residents have no control over the level and mix of migration.

Professor Alan Manning, the chairman of MAC, said: "There is no way to change the migration system without creating winners and losers. But we believe the UK should focus on enabling higher-skilled migration coupled with a more restrictive policy on lower-skilled migration in the design of its post-Brexit system."

Overall, MAC finds that while EEA migration has had impacts, many of them seem to be small in magnitude when set against other changes, and the small overall impacts mean that EEA migration as a whole has had neither the large negative effects claimed by some nor the clear benefits claimed by others.

The MAC report sets out a summary of its key recommendations for post-Brexit work migration as follows:

• General principle behind migration policy changes should be to make it easier for higher-skilled workers to migrate to the UK than lower-skilled workers.
• No preference for EU citizens, on the assumption UK immigration policy not included in agreement with EU.
• Abolish the cap on the number of migrants under Tier 2 (General).
• Tier 2 (General) to be open to all jobs at RQF3 and above. Shortage Occupation List will be fully reviewed in our next report in response to the SOL Commission.
• Maintain existing salary thresholds for all migrants in Tier 2.
• Retain but review the Immigration Skills Charge.
• Consider abolition of the Resident Labour Market Test. If not abolished, extend the numbers of migrants who are exempt through lowering the salary required for exemption.
• Review how the current sponsor licensing system works for small and medium-sized businesses.
• Consult more systematically with users of the visa system to ensure it works as smoothly as possible.
• For lower-skilled workers avoid Sector-Based Schemes (with the potential exception of a Seasonal Agricultural Workers scheme)
• If a SAWS scheme is reintroduced, ensure upward pressure on wages via an agricultural minimum wage to encourage increases in productivity.
• If a "backstop" is considered necessary to fill low-skilled roles extend the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme.
• Monitor and evaluate the impact of migration policies.
• Pay more attention to managing the consequences of migration at a local level.

The report's executive summary concludes: "A managed migration system could benefit the resident population though there would be winners and losers and the size of the benefits are likely to be modest. The evidence shows benefits would be best achieved through shifting the mix of work migration towards higher-skilled workers. If freedom of movement ends, the migration of EEA workers will become harder. Our proposals for changes to the Tier 2 visa system – removing the cap, widening the range of jobs permitted, and reducing bureaucracy - mean that the change would be less for medium-skilled workers than low-skilled workers and less still for high-skilled workers. For non-EEA workers, our Tier 2 proposals would make it easier to hire migrants into high and medium-skilled jobs but make no change for lower-skilled."