14/02/24 (Agence Europe) – Negotiations between the Member States and the European Parliament on the new directive on long-term resident status have stalled and a new meeting, scheduled for 19 February, has been postponed until 4 March, several sources have confirmed. After two trilogues, the two parties have failed to make any progress. The Member States had already had difficulty reaching agreement (see EUROPE 13299/2). The European Parliament and the EU Council differ in particular on the minimum period of residence in a Member State to obtain this status and on the arrangements for accumulating periods of residence. The EU Council set the required threshold of years of residence in several Member States at 5 years, then in a single Member State, whereas the European Parliament set this period at 3 years, including in particular residence in several countries. (SP)