EU citizenship rights — ad hoc working group

17.4.2009

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3205/09
by Enrique Barón Crespo (PSE)
to the Council

The catalogue of EU citizens' rights was created in Maastricht in 1992 and, since then, has never been updated or monitored.

The ‘acquis communautaire’ in EU citizenship rights has remained the same since 1992.

On the other hand civil rights have been progressively established for non-EU migrants: EC provisions have established rights for long-term non-EU residents, and several Member States have unilaterally established voting rights for non-EU migrants (as explained in the recent Court of Justice judgment in the case Spain vs United Kingdom on the European Parliament vote in Gibraltar for non-EU nationals) and even diplomatic and consular protection for their non-EU residents (this is the case of Sweden and others).

For the sake of consistency, a compact approach has led the European Parliament to create a LIBE committee working group, in which all EU citizenship rights are frequently discussed. There is no corresponding working group in the Council.

1. Will the Council create an ‘EU citizenship working group’ in which all issues relating to the strengthening of EU citizenship rights can be discussed?

2. If not, could the Council explain in detail the reasons for not appointing a specific single working group entirely dedicated to EU citizenship rights?

3. In practical terms, how does the Council plan to implement an Act based on Article 22 of the EC Treaty, given that the unanimous agreement of 27 Member States, followed by 27 ratifications, is required by that article?

OJ C 189, 13/07/2010