Brussels, 05/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 5 December, the MEPs of the committee on civil liberties of the European Parliament (LIBE) adopted the draft directive on the single permit, which aims to facilitate procedures to obtain both a residence permit and a working permit for nationals of third countries coming to the EU from more than three months. The Council adopted the draft on 24 November.
By virtue of the compromise reached between the two institutions (which will be confirmed at the plenary session of 12-15 December), third-country nationals will be able to go through a one-stop shop for the residence and working permit procedures and the member states (which will keep their prerogatives in terms of the number of nationals allowed onto their territory) will have to respond to requests within four months. Third-country nationals will also enjoy a new raft of rights, on an equal footing with European citizens as regards, for example, salary, redundancy, health and safety in the workplace, the right to join a union, the recognition of qualifications and access to public goods and services and social security. On the last of these, restrictions on access to social services will, however, remain possible, particularly for workers with contracts of under six months, the parliamentary committee explains. This directive will also allow non-European workers to enjoy certain tax benefits, as long as they are resident for tax purposes in the member state in question. Another advantage, according to the committee: non-EU nationals will be able to receive their pensions and have their rights transferred when they leave the EU, under the same conditions as those for the citizens of the country in which they have worked. It is worth noting that seasonal workers and seconded workers will not be covered by this directive.
Once the agreement has been validated in plenary, the EU27 will have two years to transpose the text into national law. (SP/transl.fl)