Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

It is high time for the European Union (EU) to rethink its labour migration policies and shift the focus to the 23 million third-country national regular residents that live and work within the Union’s territory - and to those that might consider moving here. Labour migrants already play a crucial role in our societies, contribute to the Union’s labour market, boost economic growth, and enrich our continent as a whole. The recent Covid-19 pandemic has shone another spotlight on the crucial role third-country nationals play within sectors identified as ‘essential’, even in times of higher unemployment.

The recast of the Long Term Residents Directive, which is one of the measures proposed within the Commission’s ‘Skills and Talent’ package, is timely and provides an opportunity to not only focus the positive narrative on migration, but also to provide tangible, legislative improvements for third-country nationals and the Union as a whole. The Directive offers an opportunity to safeguard and strengthen the rights of third-country nationals, address the vulnerabilities they face, and further foster their integration and social inclusion.

The proposal addresses the changing reality of the Union’s labour market, and with it first and foremost the challenge of an ageing society and the increasing skills shortages that many Member States already face. It is forecasted that over the next 30 years, our active workforce in the EU will decrease by 50 million people. In the meantime the USA, Australia and Canada are top destination countries for migrants and still continuously explore ways to better attract talent at all skills level. The EU could compete with other migration destinations, both in diversity and size. However, it requires further cooperation on labour migration policies in the EU to leverage the European added value. This Directive, as it was adopted in 2003, is clearly underused and requires substantial legislative changes to reach its full potential and meet the objectives set.

The purpose of recasting the EU Long-Term Residents Directive is to create a harmonised EU long-term resident status and set out rules on the procedures and rights associated with the status. The Rapporteur supports the Commission’s proposal to allow third-country nationals to cumulate residence periods in different Member States and to ensure all periods of legal residence are fully taken into account. In addition, the Rapporteur proposes to reduce the period of residence required to acquire EU long-term resident status from five to three years. This measure would increase the use of an EU long-term resident status and have a positive impact on the integration of third-country nationals, as they would obtain full equal treatment rights faster. It is also in line with the European Parliament’s Resolution on new avenues for legal labour migration (2020/2010(INI)) and the resolution with legislative recommendations to the Commission on legal migration policy and law (2020/2255(INL)). Furthermore, the Rapporteur’s proposal facilitates access to the EU long-term resident status, by allowing beneficiaries of temporary and other forms of protection status to apply for an EU long-term residence permit, as long as they fulfil the required conditions.

The Rapporteur also introduces a number of protections against ending legal stay and safeguards on withdrawal. Additionally, the Rapporteur allows for an option for a Member State to grant EU long-term resident status to vulnerable third-country nationals who have resided within its territory for less than three years. To protect third-country nationals from losing status or falling into irregularity, the proposal clarifies that an interruption of less than two months should not affect the continuous nature of residence and should not be taken into account.

In line with the European Parliament’s resolution on citizenship and residence by investment schemes (2021/2026 (INL), the Rapporteur proposes to exclude any third-country nationals who hold a residence permit solely on the basis of any kind of investment from applying for an EU long-term residence permit. The draft report supports the Commission’s proposal prohibiting Member States to take into account periods of residence as a holder of residence permit granted on any kind of investment in another Member State for the purpose of cumulating periods of residence towards an EU long-term resident status.

The Commission proposal also aims to strengthen the rights of long-term residents and their family members. Additionally, the Rapporteur approximates rights of family members in the first and second Member State to the rights of EU citizens. This includes removing the pre-requisite on integration conditions, and allowing for swifter family reunification by shortening the time needed to adopt the decision. Furthermore, family members would be entitled to access any employment, including self-employed activities in the host Member State. For protecting family life and in the best interests of a child, the Rapporteur also proposes facilitated measures on how family members and children in vulnerable situations can access autonomous residence permits.

A concrete step and a clear added value on how to enhance the attractiveness of the EU long-term resident status is to ensure effective intra-EU mobility rights for third-country nationals. Freedom of movement can allow third-country nationals to travel and seek opportunities across the EU, which can improve their prospects for integration, enhance the number and variety of opportunities they can take up, allow them to fill in labour shortages in Member States where there are needs, and help offset regional imbalances. In times of crisis, mobile third-country nationals can also contribute more to labour market adjustments and the overall economic growth of their host communities. In addition, it would render the EU much more attractive as a migration destination for third-country nationals in the first place. However, existing barriers continue hamper intra-EU mobility, significantly decreasing this attractiveness. The Rapporteur therefore puts forward a proposal removing barriers to mobility, by allowing third-country nationals who received an EU long-term resident status in the first Member State to move freely to the second Member State and apply for an EU long-term resident status immediately or for as long as the EU permit is valid in the first Member State. To have access to an EU long-term resident status in the second Member State, the EU long-term resident must fulfil the conditions on the required duration of residence. Overall, the measure proposed by the Rapporteur aims for portability of an EU long-term resident status.

Finally, the Commission proposal puts in place a mechanism to ensure a level playing field between the EU long-term residence permit and national permanent residence permits on procedures, equal treatment rights, and access to information. The Rapporteur strengthens the Commission’s proposal on level playing field by ensuring that Member States that issue parallel national permanent residence permits with more favourable provisions on safeguards, rights and conditions, should grant the same safeguards, rights and conditions to third-country nationals with EU long-term resident status. Furthermore, in cases where third-country nationals hold a national permanent residence permit and apply for an EU long-term residence permit in the same Member State, the Member State in question should automatically grant an EU long-term residence permit to the person applying. In any case, Member States should allow third country nationals to hold both national permanent residence permit and EU long-term residence permit at the same time. The additional measures proposed by the Rapporteur will address the uneven competition with national permits that does not benefit third-country nationals, and will help overcome the varied implementation of the Directive across the EU therefore improving its effectiveness.