On Monday 4 March, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the directive on long-term resident status for third-country nationals, Germany’s Damian Boeselager (Greens/EFA), lamented that the EU Council has, it seems, definitively blocked the revision of this directive, presented in 2022 (see EUROPE 12940/8).
Following an exchange last week among the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU, the Belgian Presidency reportedly concluded that it would not be able to reach an agreement with Parliament, as several Member States had formed a blocking minority on the possible areas for compromise with Parliament. France, it was reported, was the most inflexible of these countries.
The Belgian Presidency has therefore “unilaterally decided to cancel the trilogues”, criticised Mr Boeselager, speaking of a “huge setback” both for the co-legislator and for the rights of EU third-country nationals, who could have had easier access to this long-term resident status by accumulating more periods of residence, and thus to new rights.
A third trilogue, planned for 19 February, had already been cancelled (see EUROPE 13350/37).
Saying he was “extremely disappointed”, the Greens/EFA MEP felt that “the threat of the rise of anti-migration populists” had prevailed over this text.
“One national government in particular has used all its negotiating power and size to create a blocking minority”, he added.
According to one source, a number of countries had in fact expressed difficulties with the text, even though France was a driving force behind the rejection, with some countries citing, among other things, the inclusion of the categories of students, seasonal workers and beneficiaries of temporary protection in the calculation and accumulation of periods, as well as periods of absence outside the EU. The Member States had already been slow to reach agreement on this issue (see EUROPE 13299/2).
The aim of revising this directive was to attract more international talent and offer them new mobility rights within the EU and equal treatment with Europeans.
Unlike national residence schemes, EU long-term resident status gives its holder the freedom to move and reside in other EU countries for the purposes of work or study. However, this right would not be automatic, as Member States could assess the situation within their labour markets.
Long-term EU residents would also have received the same treatment as EU citizens, for example in terms of access to employment, whether salaried or self-employed, education and vocational training, and tax benefits, again subject to conditions.
In 2020, the number of third-country nationals residing legally in the EU was 23 million, or 5.1% of the EU population, and over 10 million held long-term or permanent residence permits.
Link to the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/b4i (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)