ABSTRACT

This chapter argues that European Community (EC) law has been characterised by a conception of integration as equal treatment, equal participation and, recently, as transnational solidarity. It discusses the frame of integration characterising EC law over the last 50 years and addresses its contiguous effect upon the status and rights of resident third-country nationals (TCNs). Since its early days, the EC recognised that free movement of workers is not simply a functional prerequisite for creating a common market. In line with the incremental progress of European integration, the rights to cross state borders and to enter the territory of another member state with a view to become a resident were no longer confined to workers who possessed offers of employment under Article. The partial Communitarisation of the Third Pillar at Amsterdam45 brought matters relating towards TCNs within the Community's (mixed) competence and magnified the radiation effect of EC law.