On 13 December 2011 the European Commission announced the directive 2011/98/EU, which enables the third-country residents to obtain their work permit (EU Blue Card, see 'Related Measures') and their residence permit with a one single procedure.
 
The third-country members with a single permit will enjoy the same rights as all the other EU workers, such as decent working conditions, tax benefits, access to pensions, social security etc.
 
The member countries have two years to transpose the directive to their national laws.