Brussels, 7 June 2004
The Council will reach political agreement – adoption being still dependant on the EP opinion - on a recommendation to facilitate the admission of third-country nationals to carry out research in the European Community. This recommendation is part of a package (one directive and two recommendations) (COM(2004)178 final, 16.03.04) proposed by the Commission to help third country researchers come to, work in and move through the EU. The recommendation deals with admission for the purpose of carrying out research and with residence permits, where it anticipates the contents of the proposal for a directive which is currently being discussed in the Council. It also complements the directive when it deals with family reunification and operational cooperation and network between the different bodies dealing with researchers’ admission.
The Commission welcomes the political agreement on the recommendation. It however regrets that the recommendation is less ambitious than in its initial proposal, especially on two important aspects : First, the objective of the visa being issued in principle in less than 30 days has not been maintained in the text and this will weaken the coherence between the different Member States procedures.
Secondly, the text does not mention anymore the possibility for the reseacher’s spouse to have access to the labour market or to submit family reunification applications directly on the territory of the Member State concerned. This would have contributed to increase the attractiveness of the European research area.