Brussels, 15/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - The committee on civil liberties of the European Parliament should have involved the employment committee at its recent work on the single residence and employment permit for migrant workers in the EU. This was decided on the evening of Monday 14 February in Strasbourg by the committee on constitutional affairs of the EP, thereby blocking the plenary vote initially scheduled for Wednesday 16 February and recommending at this stage that the dossier be postponed until March or April. This decision may, however, be challenged by the groups of the EP between now and on Wednesday 16 February. According to a parliamentary source, “on Monday, everybody spoke out against the procedure selected by the committee on civil liberties of the EP” and that of MEP Véronique Mathieu (EPP, France), who decided not to re-open the questions validated last December in Strasbourg and focus instead on the final blocking points. However, the committee on employment and social affairs would not accept being sidelined from the dossier in this way. On the side of Mathieu, this decision was noted and the idea of voting on the report this week abandoned. It is now hoped that the dossier can be put back on the agenda in March, but it “could take longer than that”, a source explained, as the employment committee, which has been involved in the work once again, now wishes to table amendments, particularly on its own “employment” issues, and the timetable will depend on how long it takes to examine them. (S.P./transl.fl)