MEPs put forward measures to strengthen the link between citizens and the EU

Parliament reiterates call for an EU Statute of Citizenship

Need to safeguard electoral rights and ensure consular protection for citizens abroad

Call for a binding European Charter on Digital Rights and a permanent citizens' consultation mechanism

Parliament has adopted a report with concrete proposals on how the rights of European citizens under the Treaties should be defended and enhanced.

The report, adopted with 437 votes for, 158 against and 41 abstentions, suggests measures to strengthen the rights of European citizens and their link to the Union, most notably through the creation of an EU Statute of Citizenship - reiterating the call by MEPs issued in 2022.

Regarding political rights, MEPs deplore that “mobile citizens” are less likely to exercise their right to vote and run for office in European and municipal elections, and are highly concerned by the practice of certain EU countries of depriving their citizens of the right to vote in national parliamentary elections when they live abroad permanently or temporarily.

Parliament seeks to:

ensure adequate and equal consular protection for all Europeans;

establish a binding European Charter on Digital Rights;

create better and easier to use participatory mechanisms, including a permanent citizens’ consultation mechanism, including a digital platform; and

put an end to so-called “golden visa” and “golden passport” programmes that lead to the sale and abuse of EU citizenship.

Further, MEPs call for the uniform application of standards for freedom of movement, especially in relation Bulgaria’s and Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area, as well as for same-sex couples (whose legal status is not uniformly accepted across the EU) and their children.

In addition, MEPs propose:

gender-balanced democratic representation on electoral lists;

the recognition of periods of study as equivalent to be able to work in another EU country;

universal internet access;

the management of one’s own digital identity, going further than existing rules; and

the digital inheritance of a deceased person’s data.

With this report, Parliament is responding to citizens’ expectations as expressed in the final proposals of the Conference on the Future of Europe on the importance of strengthening EU citizenship and creating a stronger link between the citizens and the Union, for example in proposals 25(2) and 37(1).

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Rapporteur Maite PAGAZAURTUNDÚA (Renew, Spain) commented: “The European citizenship, born out of the efforts of Jacques Delors and Felipe González 30 years ago, needs to undergo changes to ensure that the EU continues to have all the added value possible in a geopolitically turbulent world. To place the citizen at the centre of the system, we must tackle the obstacles that persist for the full exercise of Union citizenship, particularly in the areas of political rights, freedom of movement and residence, consular protection, and equality. To achieve this, we propose a Union Citizenship Statute to consolidate existing scattered rights and introduce new ones, which should include a horizontal non-discrimination clause.”