Cecilia Wikström spearheads the drive to increment rights for third country students and researchers looking to pursue their fields in Europe.

Attracting the brightest minds a priority for Europe

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/12131262/n005-151117-001-en.srt

Lassané Yaméogo is a doctoral researcher  in Communications and Journalism.

Since 2012, he has spent half of his study  time at his partner University in Belgium,

Coming from Burkina Faso,  It is an enormous opportunity for him.

Conditions here mean there is an openness

that allows PHD students to progress  and discover other areas and researchers.

For non-EU students and researchers,  the visa process is often highly complex.

Each country to its own set  of rules and hurdles.

To overcome this, agreement has been  reached to facilitate mobility -

We need them and the demography of  Europe is pointing out

that we need to attract skilled people  from outside the EU

The new agreement will allow third-country  students to obtain a visa more easily

Researchers will also be able to bring  over their families

and stay for up to 9 months  after the completion of their placement,

giving them the time  to potentially find work in Europe.

The text is set to be endorsed  by Plenary before the summer.