The European Students’ Union’s Statement on the EU Visa Strategy and the Recommendation on Attracting Talent for Innovation

The European Students’ Union (ESU) welcomes the European Commission’s
intention to modernise and streamline visa procedures through the EU Visa
Strategy and the Recommendation on Attracting Talent for Innovation. Efforts to
simplify administrative processes, reduce waiting times, improve transparency,
digitalise application systems and strengthen coordination between authorities
are essential steps towards more accessible student mobility.
At the same time, ESU emphasises that international student mobility is a
cornerstone of the European Union and the European Higher Education Area and
must not be understood merely as a tool for economic benefit but as a key driver
of academic cooperation, intercultural exchange and societal development.
Additionally, ESU is concerned that the overall approach prioritises security and
economic competitiveness over a rights-based approach to education and
mobility. While international students are recognised within the framework, they
are primarily framed as contributors to the EU’s competitiveness agenda, with a
disproportionate focus on fields considered strategically relevant for economic
growth. ESU expresses strong concerns regarding this instrumentalisation and
stresses that all students should be recognised as rights-holders and full
members of the academic community, rather than primarily as contributors to
economic or geopolitical objectives. Education is a public good and a public
responsibility, and student mobility must reflect this principle.

Ensuring Inclusive and Fair Access to Student Mobility
ESU strongly supports measures aimed at simplifying and digitalising visa and
residence procedures, ensuring faster, more transparent and predictable
decision-making, improving access to information and strengthening
administrative and consular capacities. However, such simplification must
benefit all students equally and be implemented in a fair and
non-discriminatory manner, regardless of nationality, background or field of
study. ESU is concerned about the prioritisation of students in strategic fields and
STEM disciplines within visa processing and residency procedures, as proposed in
the Recommendation on Attracting Talent for Innovation. Such approaches risk
introducing selective mobility pathways, undermining equal access to
education and marginalising students in other fields.

ESU also underlines that EU mobility frameworks should move beyond a narrow
focus on “attracting talent” and instead promote inclusive, fair and reciprocal
international cooperation. Students should not be viewed solely as talent or
economic resources, but as learners, rights-holders and active members of
academic communities. Policies should not contribute to brain drain but support
mutual development and global equity.

ESU welcomes the recognition of human rights defenders and persons in need of
protection as vulnerable groups as an important step in acknowledging the
specific barriers faced by students at risk. However, this recognition should be
complemented by concrete measures to ensure accessible, flexible and safe visa
pathways. Visa procedures should actively support and facilitate access to
education for students at risk, including those whose fundamental rights are
threatened in their home countries, ensuring timely and protection-oriented
pathways.

Calls to Action
ESU therefore calls on the European Commission and Member States to:
● Move beyond a narrow focus on attracting talent and promote education
as a public good and responsibility, fostering inclusive and reciprocal
cooperation;
● Avoid selective mobility pathways, including prioritisation of specific
disciplines;
● Ensure rights-based, fair and non-discriminatory visa procedures for all
students, regardless of nationality, background or field of study;
● Establish flexible and accessible visa pathways for students at risk.

A future EU visa framework must prioritise inclusion, fairness and human rights,
ensuring equal access to mobility for all students. ESU stands ready to engage
constructively with European institutions to ensure that future policies place
students and their rights at the centre of European higher education