The Long-Term Residents Directive: A Fulfilment Of The Tampere Objective Of Near-Equality?

Abstract

This chapter focuses on Council Directive 2003/109/EC concerning the status of third-country nationals (TCNs) who are long-term residents from the perspective of long-term resident migrants working in an employed capacity in one of the Member States. The main question it seeks to answer is whether the legal status accorded to this particular group of (TCNs) by the Directive in respect of equality rights fulfils the Tampere vision of 'near-equality'. The chapter focuses on one of the main rights of long-term residents as it examines to which extent equality of treatment between long-term resident migrant workers and nationals of the host Member State is realized by Article 11 of the Directive. This examination reveals whether Community law from now on reflects social cohesion or continue to promote a legal system based on social injustice with large groups of TCNs treated as 'second class citizens'. Keywords:Council Directive 2003/109/EC; long-term residents; third-country nationals (TCNs)