On the implementation of Treaty provisions on EU citizenship

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EXPLANATORY STATEMENT – SUMMARY OF FACTS AND FINDINGS

EU citizenship has been part of the European project for more than thirty years. It was a milestone at the time of its creation, as it was a unique and singular condition that distinguished and continues to distinguish the difference between the European Union and other political realities.

Three years have passed since the European Parliament adopted its last report on the application of the provisions of the Treaties relating to EU citizenship; three years that seem like three decades because of the deep transformations that we have experienced and the exceptional circumstances that we have lived through, including the invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Conference on the Future of Europe included in its conclusions the importance of strengthening EU citizenship and mentioned the elaboration of the EU Statute of Citizenship as a way of creating a stronger link between the citizens and the Union. Before the end of the year, the Commission will publish the 2023 report on EU citizenship, which should include new initiatives aimed at achieving this reinforcement, including the elaboration of the Statute.

This report is timely and necessary. The European Union needs to incorporate changes in its rulebook in order to move forward and respond effectively and quickly in a geopolitically turbulent world. The European Parliament has called for a Convention and a revision of the Treaties, but even now, progress can and must continue to be made in order to strengthen EU citizenship, which, in fact, strengthens the Union.

With the technological revolution, every citizen has become a pillar of the Union, an essential pillar for cohesion and for facing the challenges of our time; and because citizenship is at the heart of the European project and reflects a common democratic identity, it is necessary to take advantage of its full potential to overcome difficulties and to continue generating opportunities for a prosperous and valuable future in terms of freedom and equality.

We need to make citizens aware of their rights and not only ensure their implementation, but also update them by creating new rights in light of the economic, social and digital revolution we are experiencing. Focusing on what unites us and elaborating an EU Statute of Citizenship that brings clarity and knowledge will be useful for that.

We need to address both the negative consequences arising from the fragmentation and different application of the European legislation on EU citizenship by the Member States, as well as all the forms of inequality and discrimination occurring when exercising citizenship rights (especially for people with some kind of disability or people at risk of exclusion) and to eliminate obstacles and old or new gaps -digital or not- in the enjoyment of EU citizenship.

It is time to promote participation so that citizens can contribute effectively to the development of the Union’s agenda, while strengthening representative democracy and the legitimacy of the EU institutions.

This report reflects this approach, focusing not only on analysing the existing problems surrounding the application of the provisions of the Treaties and legislation on EU citizenship, but also on its future, on formulating concrete proposals for strengthening citizenship and on making recommendations to the European Institutions and the Member States to move in the same direction, and in particular for the Commission to include it in its upcoming 2023 report on EU citizenship.

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

on the implementation of Treaty provisions on EU citizenship

(2023/2085(INI))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Articles 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 21 and 23 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU),

– having regard to Articles 15, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 45, 46, 47, 48, 153 and 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),

– having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

– having regard to Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States amending Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 and repealing Directives 64/221/EEC, 68/360/EEC, 72/194/EEC, 73/148/EEC, 75/34/EEC, 75/35/EEC, 90/364/EEC, 90/365/EEC and 93/96/EEC,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/692 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 establishing the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1381/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EU) No 390/2014,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) No 492/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on freedom of movement for workers within the Union,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) No 2019/1149 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 establishing a European Labour Authority, amending Regulations (EC) No 883/2004, (EU) No 492/2011, and (EU) 2016/589 and repealing Decision (EU) 2016/344,

– having regard to Directive (EU) 2018/957 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 June 2018 amending Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/589 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 April 2016 on a European network of employment services (EURES), workers’ access to mobility services and the further integration of labour markets, and amending Regulations (EU) No 492/2011 and (EU) No 1296/2013,

– having regard to Directive 2013/55/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 amending Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications and Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System,

– having regard to Council Directive (EU) 2015/637 of 20 April 2015 on the coordination and cooperation measures to facilitate consular protection for unrepresented citizens of the Union in third countries and repealing Decision 95/553/EC,

– having regard to Council Directive (EU) 2019/997 of 18 June 2019 establishing an EU Emergency Travel Document and repealing Decision 96/409/CFSP,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 2 July 2009 on guidance for better transposition and application of Directive 2004/38/EC on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States (COM (2009)0313),

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2019/788 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the European citizens’ initiative,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2020/1042 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2020 laying down temporary measures concerning the time limits for the collection, the verification and the examination stages provided for in Regulation (EU) 2019/788 on the European citizens’ initiative in view of the COVID-19 outbreak,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 2 December 2020 entitled ‘Strategy to strengthen the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the EU’ (COM(2020)0711),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 3 December 2020 on the European democracy action plan (COM(2020)0790),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 25 November 2021 entitled ‘Protecting election integrity and promoting democratic participation’ (COM(2021)0730),

– having regard to the Commission report of 15 December 2020 entitled ‘EU Citizenship Report 2020 – Empowering citizens and protecting their rights’ (COM(2020)0730),

– having regard to the Commission report of 15 December 2020 under Article 25 TFEU on progress towards effective EU citizenship 2016-2020 (COM(2020)0731),

– having regard to its position of 14 February 2023 on the proposal for a Council directive laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament for Union citizens residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals (recast),

– having regard to its position of 14 February 2023 on the proposal for a Council directive laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and stand as a candidate in municipal elections by Union citizens residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals (recast),

– having regard to its resolution of 12 February 2019 on the implementation of the Treaty provisions related to EU citizenship,

– having regard to its resolution of 9 March 2022 with proposals to the Commission on citizenship and residence by investment schemes,

– having regard to its resolution of 10 March 2022 on the EU Citizenship Report 2020: empowering citizens and protecting their rights,

– having regard to its resolution of 13 June 2023 on the implementation of the Regulations on the European citizens’ initiative,

– having regard to its resolution of 14 September 2023 on Parliamentarism, European citizenship and democracy,

– having regard to its resolution of 7 July 2021 on Citizens’ dialogues and Citizens’ participation in the EU decision-making,

– having regard to its resolution of 9 March 2022 on engaging with citizens: the right to petition, the right to refer to the European Ombudsman and the European Citizens’ Initiative,

– having regard to its resolution of 15 March 2017 on obstacles to EU citizens’ freedom to move and work in the internal market,

– having regard to the Fundamental Rights Report 2023 of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights,

– having regard to the report on the final outcome of the Conference on the Future of Europe,

– having regard to the results of Flash Eurobarometer 485/2020 and standard Eurobarometer 99/2023,

– having regard to Rule 54 of its Rules of Procedure, as well as to Article 1(1)(e) of, and Annex 3 to, the decision of the Conference of Presidents of 12 December 2002 on the procedure for granting authorisation to draw up own-initiative reports,

– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (A90000/2023),

A. whereas EU citizenship was established with the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993; whereas thirty years have passed since then and major social, digital, economic and political changes have taken place;

B. whereas citizenship is a unique construct reflecting the common democratic identity of EU citizens, and has not yet reached its full potential;

C. whereas EU citizens lack sufficient awareness, knowledge and understanding of the rights and freedoms deriving from their EU citizenship; whereas there are still substantial shortcomings in the practical application of EU citizenship, some of which are caused by the non-uniform implementation of EU legislation by the Member States;

D. whereas the results of the 2020 public consultation on EU citizenship revealed that over 60 % of those who took part did not consider themselves well informed about their EU citizenship rights;

E. whereas citizens have been facing unprecedented challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the digital revolution and the social and economic transformations linked to it;

F. whereas the compilation, consolidation and revision of existing rights and the creation of new rights would facilitate better exercise of the rights and freedoms deriving from EU citizenship;

G. whereas the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFE) include proposals and measures that reflect the agreement between the European institutions and EU citizens to strengthen EU citizenship;

H. whereas existing obstacles to the exercise of citizenship rights create situations of inequality and discrimination among citizens, in particular mobile citizens and members of vulnerable and marginalised groups, such as older people and homeless people;

I. whereas almost 87 million EU citizens live with some form of disability and experience difficulties exercising their citizenship rights, with these difficulties sometimes entailing a direct denial of their rights to free movement and residence and restrictions on the enjoyment of their political rights;

Introduction

1. Considers that EU citizenship comprises the shared and common European democratic identity and the specific rights and freedoms attached to it, and that the exercise of those rights strengthens citizens’ link with the EU and its democratic legitimacy, as well as offering them additional rights;

2. Points out that the construction of EU citizenship must move forward to address the needs and challenges of the 21st century and the complexity generated by globalisation and new technologies; stresses the negative impact of the growing digital divide on the exercise of citizenship rights, as it leaves a section of the public alienated from the European project;

3. Recalls that the CoFE underlined the importance of reinforcing EU citizenship by mentioning in its conclusions that an EU citizenship statute would be a useful tool for making the EU’s principles and values more tangible; points out that Parliament called for the creation of such a statute in its resolution of 12 February 2019 on the implementation of the Treaty provisions related to EU citizenship and in its resolution of 10 March 2022 on the EU Citizenship Report 2020: empowering citizens and protecting their rights;

4. Regrets the fact that the Commission did not specifically mention the reinforcement of EU citizenship and potential ways to achieve this in its communication following up on the CoFE; recalls that the Council did show willingness to strengthen citizenship in the technical assessment it published in relation to the CoFE;

5. Recalls that the Commission will publish its EU Citizenship Report 2023 before the end of the year and expects it to propose new initiatives to reinforce EU citizenship; regrets that this time, the Commission has chosen to publish a call for evidence and not a public consultation as it did in previous years; expresses concern that the report may therefore be prepared on the basis of outdated data and that the results of the call for evidence, which does not contain a comprehensive overview of the latest developments and implementation gaps, may mean that the report does not reflect the current situation;

Problems around EU citizenship

6. Is concerned about specific difficulties impeding the full exercise of the rights and freedoms deriving from EU citizenship;

Political rights

7. Deplores the fact that mobile citizens are less likely to exercise their right to vote and run for office in European and municipal elections in their Member States of residence, with the reasons for this including insufficient information, language barriers, difficulties in registering to vote and the low success rate of non-national candidates;

8. Is highly concerned by the practice of certain Member States of depriving their citizens of the right to vote in national parliamentary elections when they live abroad, which leads to their exclusion from political life in both their country of origin and their country of residence;

Freedom of movement and residence

9. Is concerned by the fact that mobile citizens are treated differently to nationals by their Member States of residence as regards access to social and institutional benefits;

Consular protection

10. Is concerned by the existence of deficiencies in the implementation of the Consular Protection Directive and of shortcomings in the functioning of the Member States’ consular networks, noting that these increased following the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU; deplores, in this regard, the fact that EU citizens have limited access to consular protection and assistance in some non-EU countries;

11. Points out that there have been cases where two people who are nationals of two different Member States have been unable to complete certain formalities, such as getting married, at the consular representation of one of the Member States, even if the other Member State has no any accessible consular representation in that country;

Discrimination

12. Considers that the lack of uniformity in Member States’ rules on the acquisition and loss of national citizenship has led to differences as regards the acquisition and loss of EU citizenship, and that these differences have resulted, in some cases, in the violation of EU principles and values;

13. Calls on the Member States to uniformly apply the case-law on the acquisition of a derived right of residence for non-EU nationals whose minor dependants are EU citizens;

Recommendations

14. Calls on the Member States to fully implement the existing directives on mobile citizens’ rights and reiterates its call to extend mobile citizens’ rights to national and regional elections;

15. Calls on the Member States to guarantee the right of their expatriate nationals to vote in their country of origin, where recognised, by removing the bureaucratic obstacles that hinder and sometimes prevent the exercise of this right;

16. Calls on the Commission to adopt a new communication clarifying certain key concepts contained in Directive 2004/38/EC on the right of EU citizens and their families to move and reside freely within the EU, in order to provide the Member States with up-to-date guidelines that could contribute to improving the Directive’s implementation at national level, thus benefiting EU citizens and their family members;

17. Calls for the EU to promote the adoption of a binding European Charter on Digital Rights, including digital citizenship rights, building on the European Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade;

18. Calls on the Commission to present, without further delay, a proposal to update and improve the Consular Protection Directive, including by giving EU delegations a more active role in assisting under-represented citizens;

19. Calls on the Member States to put an end to ‘golden visa’ programmes and investor schemes and any other similar national schemes that lead to the acquisition of their citizenship and involve the direct or indirect sale of EU citizenship, as these undermine the very concept of EU citizenship and violate of EU principles and values;

20. Calls on the Member States to invest in adapting school curricula to teach the history of Europe and the European Union in order to increase awareness of the added value of being a European and an EU citizen;

21. Calls on the Commission to develop public consultations tailored to citizens, especially young people, in order to increase citizens’ participation; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to further improve the ‘Have your say’ portal;

22. Calls for the creation of a one-stop shop for all EU participatory tools and for the efficiency of these tools to be enhanced, notably by ensuring that they contribute to European agenda-setting, while also guaranteeing that representative democracy is reinforced in the decision-making process;

23. Reiterates the need to draw up an EU citizenship statute, on the basis of Article 25 TFEU, that compiles and updates existing citizenship rights and establishes new ones; recalls that both the drafting of the EU citizenship statute and the updating and creation of these new rights should be carried out within the framework of the Treaties;

24. Calls for a horizontal non-discrimination clause to be included in the EU citizenship statute as an additional safeguard of equality in the exercise of citizenship rights, with a view to ensuring non-discrimination and protecting citizens, in particular people at risk of digital exclusion, people with disabilities and members of vulnerable and marginalised groups, such as homeless people;

25. Calls on the Commission to run awareness-raising campaigns around the EU citizenship statute and to dedicate more resources to EU citizenship; emphasises that with the digital and technological revolution, citizens have become the true pillars of our democratic systems and will be the ones to defend them;

26. Calls on the Commission to take into account these proposals in the upcoming EU Citizenship Report 2023 and to take the necessary steps to implement them following the procedure under Article 25 TFEU;

27. Reiterates its call for the convening of a Convention for the revision of the Treaties, as provided for in Article 48 TEU; strongly believes that the Convention should carefully assess how to strengthen EU citizenship further, beyond the current Treaties;

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28. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.