Doc. 9168

4 July 2001

Freedom of movement in member states of the Council of Europe for holders of temporary residence permits in a member state

Motion for a resolution

presented by Mrs Aguiar and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1. The Assembly has on several occasions recalled the importance of facilitating the free movement of people in Europe, in particular in Resolution 557 (73) on the responsibility of member states of the Council of Europe regarding the free movement of people in Europe and Recommendation 879 (79) on the movement of persons between the member states of the Council of Europe.

2. At the moment, there is a growing movement of migrants, namely from eastern Europe, who settle temporarily in other European countries in search for better economic conditions.

3. The Assembly wishes to address its attention to the situation of those migrants who are given a temporary residence permit in a member state and who, due to a gap in legislation or a restrictive interpretation of existing legislation, cannot travel to or transit through other member states without risking being returned to their country of nationality, sometimes under expulsion procedures. The result of this situation is that – to avoid being subjected to expulsion procedures - these legal migrants cannot leave the host country for the entire duration of their stay.

4. Therefore, the Assembly calls on the member states of the Council of Europe:

i.       to cooperate in order to ensure that all migrants having legal residence in a member state be allowed to travel to or via other member states;

ii.       also in consideration of the fact that very often the holders of temporary residence permits are not entitled to family reunification, to facilitate freedom of movement from the host country, directly or via other member states, to the country of nationality of the migrants, in compliance with a fundamental principle of humanity.

Signed : ¹

Aguiar, Portugal, EPP/CD

Aliyev B. Azerbaijan, SOC

Cilevičs, Latvia, SOC

Gamzatova, Russia, UEL

Jařab, Czech Republic, LDR

Kroupa, Czech Republic, EPP/CD

Libicki, Poland, EDG

Lörcher, Germany, SOC

Soendergaard, Denmark, UEL

Tkáč, Slovakia, EDG

Zwerver, Netherlands, SOC

¹        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group