Grounds for rejecting an application for an EU Blue Card
Article 7
1. A Member State shall reject an application for an EU Blue Card where: (a) Article 5 is not complied with; (b) the documents presented have been fraudulently acquired, falsified or tampered with; (c) the third-country national concerned is considered to pose a threat to public policy, public security or public health; or (d) the employer’s business was established or operates for the main purpose of facilitating the entry of third-country nationals. 2. A Member State may reject an application for an EU Blue Card: (a) where the competent authorities of the Member State, after checking the labour market situation, for example where there is a high level of unemployment, conclude that the vacancy concerned may be filled from the national or Union workforce, or by third-country nationals who are lawfully resident in that Member State and already form part of its labour market by virtue of Union or national law, or by EU long-term residents who wish to move to that Member State for highly qualified employment in accordance with Chapter III of Directive 2003/109/EC; (b) where the employer has failed to meet its legal obligations regarding social security, taxation, labour rights or working conditions; (c) where the employer’s business is being, or has been, wound up under national insolvency laws or carries out no economic activity; (d) where the employer has been sanctioned for the employment of illegally staying third-country nationals in accordance with Article 9 of Directive 2009/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 24 ) , or for undeclared work or illegal employment according to national law; or (e) to ensure ethical recruitment in professions suffering from a lack of qualified workers in the countries of origin, including on the basis of an agreement listing professions for that purpose either between the Union and the Member States on the one hand, and one or more third countries on the other, or between the Member States on the one hand, and one or more third countries on the other. 3. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, any decision to reject an application shall take account of the specific circumstances of the case and shall respect the principle of proportionality.