The legal status of third country nationals resident in the European Union

European integration has ad a significant impact on migratory movements in Western Europe. Immigration into the European Community has led to the creation of a number of political statuses within the Member States of the European Community. Each status carries with it a complex scheme of distribution of benefits and entitlements. The purpose of this study was to establish which steps could be taken to secure the position of long-term resident third country nationals within the institutional framework that was created by the Treaty of Amsterdam by extending EU citizenship to long-term resident third country nationals by adding supplementing nationality of Member State as qualifying condition for EU citizenship with residence in a Member State longer than five years.