I want to address a brief video towards the position of third country nationals TCNs as we lovingly refer to them in EU law jargon. We've come across them already in the form of family members of EU citizens. So the idea of this video is to have a look at or to shed some light on how TCNs under EU law can gain entry and residence rights in member states.
And there's a number of categories that have a right to access, most notably family members. So third country nationals who are in some way, shape or form a family member of an EU citizen who can make use of EU law because she or he has made use of their free movement rights, then EU TCNs can also derive rights from EU law. Thing you need to have in mind there is that it is of the utmost important that that person is in the same member state as the EU citizen they derive their rights from. Articles 12 and 13 of the directive provide for situations where in case of death of the EU citizen for example or divorce from the EU citizen albeit or not in a situation of domestic violence or abuse.
The directive covers those situations where a TCN might have entry and residence rights that are no longer directly derived from that EU citizen because that EU citizen might no longer be there. But that is covered by Article 12 and 13 of the directive. There are no further requirements. So that means that national member states cannot impose their own national immigration laws.
Besides from family members, there are a couple of other categories of third country nationals that may have entry and residence rights in the EU. These are most notably... Um... nationals from states that participate in the European Economic Area.
So people from Norway, from Iceland and from Liechtenstein, because on the basis of that treaty, the rules with regards to the free movement of persons are basically extended to a similar account that also counts for Swiss nationals, because between the EU Swiss Association agreements, Switzerland is not a part of the EEA, but there are more bilateral agreements, sectoral agreements as they are called. It's not so all-encompassing as the EEA treaty, but in certain fields there are forms of cooperation between Switzerland and the EU, and that also is valid for free movement of persons. So these people are in a shell that is really close to being an EU citizen and being a national of an EU member state.
Obviously at this point in time, this is the 8th of January 2020, I have no idea what's going to happen with the United Kingdom at this point. That may be clear by the time you're watching this video, but for the time being while talking into this camera I will still treat the United Kingdom as a member state of the European Union and we'll have to see later on, we can address it in the question and answer sessions during the course what the situation with regards to the United Kingdom is. To a lesser extent, the EU can have association agreements or other type of agreements with third countries that would lead into the possibility of specific categories of people from those states being able to come to the European Union to work there, for example. The clearest example and the longest standing example is the association agreement with Turkey and the fact that it is relatively easy.
for Turkish workers to come to the European Union. There was a similar agreement, but it's long dormant. It hasn't been abolished to my knowledge, but it sleeps with the Russian Federation, for example.
where it was also possible for Russian workers to come to the European Union to work there. So those type of agreements. On the base of national law, member states can decide under their own immigration rules to bring in third country nationals as well.
Their EU law can also impose rights on these people, give rights to these people. There are directives. There's the famous blue card directive that allows for highly skilled workers that are necessary in certain areas, TCN, highly skilled workers necessary in certain areas to enter into the EU.
There is secondary legislation with regards to researchers, for example, as well as students. that makes it relatively easy for third country nationals to enter into member states of the EU. And they can derive rights from EU law if they also gain what is called a long-term residence status under Directive 2003-109.
That means that after a certain number of years of being legally resident under either EU rules or under national rules, these third country nationals can get a long-term residence status. This directive applies in most member states. It does not apply in Ireland and Denmark, and it did not apply in the United Kingdom. And depending on the situations, it may still not apply in the United Kingdom.
It obviously doesn't apply anymore when the UK is no longer a member state. That allows... even for limited free movement rights.
So people who have an LTR status may move to the extent of what is allowed in that particular directive to move between member states even. A similar directive is there for family reunification. Directive 2386 that allows for family reunification of third country nationals who do not derive their rights from an EU citizen.
Again, applies in most member states but does not apply in Ireland, Denmark and depending on membership status by the time you're watching this, the United Kingdom. There's another possibility via secondary legislation and that is the so-called posted worker directive that allows a TCN workforce for a company that is established in an EU member state to actually go and work in another EU member state. So there is piecemeal and fragmented basis on which TCNs have rights.
Their most encompassing rights is obviously the rights that they derive as family members of EU citizens. Also needs to be mentioned here that in the past there have been European Council conclusions, most notably from Tampere and from Stockholm in 2010 at the latest from the top of my head, where the European Union expresses the sort of. underlying idea that third country nationals should be as much as possible in the same position as EU citizens.
I don't know to what extent that is politically realistic and most certainly not after what happened since the migrant crisis of the last five years or so and what has happened what has happened and what is happening. from a political perspective in the member states. So that you should know as lawyers, there's...
It doesn't influence the set of rules that we're looking at in this course as much, but it's something that you would have to keep in the back of your minds, that there are these principles or these ideas, and there's political reality on the other side as well. Okay, see you in the next video.