CITIZENSHIP OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

CITIZENSHIP OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

The Union citizenship was introduced in the Treaty on European Union, signed in Maastricht in 1992, which endowed Union citizens with a number of novel rights, including political rights. 

According to Article 20(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), every person holding the nationality of a Member State is a Union citizen in addition to national citizenship. 

Union citizens have to these rights:

*to move and reside freely in the other Member States,
*to vote, and to stand as candidates in municipal and European elections
*to petition the Parliament
*to apply to the European Ombudsman, 
*and to enjoy in a third country the protection of the diplomatic and consular authorities of any other Member State.

Sources and related websites:

http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/index_en.htm

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI(2017)599361

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012E/TXT

Cover photo: http://www.european-net.org/2016/03/eurobarometer-on-european-union-citizenship/