The General Secretariat of the Council has circulated a revised compilation of Member States' written comments on the Presidency compromise text for the proposed EU Talent Pool Regulation, following the Working Party meeting on 8 April 2024. The document, dated 25 June 2026, consolidates feedback from Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.
Member States broadly support the compromise text but raise specific concerns on financial implications of withdrawal, pre-screening of jobseekers, employer participation controls, National Contact Point composition and information obligations, and the operational clarity of the Talent Partnerships Pass. Croatia seeks clarification on financial repercussions of withdrawal (Article 3), the 2-year funding recovery timeframe, and the composition of National Contact Points (Article 10), particularly regarding immigration and employment experts from different bodies. Cyprus proposes textual additions to definitions in Recital 6 and Article 4.1.3b to clarify that "other participating entity" means temporary work agencies or labour market intermediaries whose job vacancies may be transferred "as allowed or subject to/according to by national legislation." The Czech Republic requests pre-screening of jobseekers before database registration (Article 11), expresses concern that smaller states not involved in Talent Partnerships may be overlooked, and wants more detail on information to be provided by National Contact Points (Article 17). France welcomes clarifications on withdrawal (Article 3), definitions (Article 4), and National Contact Point composition (Articles 10 and 17), but requests reintroduction of Member State control over employer participation, amendment to Recital 16 to inform employers that registration does not guarantee visa issuance, and clarification on the "EU Talent Partnerships Pass" (Article 12).
The revised compilation will inform further negotiations within the Council. The proposed Regulation aims to establish a voluntary EU-wide pool of third-country jobseekers to address labour shortages, with the European Parliament and Council as co-legislators. The next steps involve incorporating Member State comments into a revised Presidency text for discussion at a future Working Party meeting.