Brussels, 02/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 29 March, with the adoption of the report by Adina-Iona Valean (ALDE, Romania) which analyses the 2010 report on citizenship, the European Parliament called on member states to lift barriers to the free movement of European Union citizens.
With adoption of an amendment in plenary (352 votes for, 239 against and 14 abstentions for the first part of the amendment, and 351 for, 241 against and 11 abstentions for the second part), the EP calls once more on member states to ensure there is free movement for all citizens of the EU and for their families, “without discrimination, on grounds of sexual orientation or nationality”. It reiterates its request that member states should fully implement the rights granted under Articles 2 and 3 of Directive 2004/38/EC not only to different-sex spouses but also to registered partners, members of the household of an EU citizen and partners who are in a duly attested stable relationship with an EU citizen, including members of same-sex couples, on the basis of the principles of mutual recognition, equality, non-discrimination, dignity and respect for private and family life. It also calls on the Commission, in that connection, to ensure that the directive is strictly applied.
Electoral rights. The EP recognises that there a number of obstacles preventing EU citizens' full enjoyment of their electoral rights when residing in a country other than their own. It: - calls on the Commission and on member states to make citizens more aware of this right; - proposes that a European electoral roll be established for European elections; - calls on member states to find better solutions for improving the rules governing elections and to promote best practices; - and stresses that more direct participation by citizens through European political parties is a decisive step towards achieving “more” Europe and a more authentic democracy.
Taxation. The EP calls for better coordination between member states dealing with problems such as double taxation and lack of harmonisation of pension taxation for EU citizens, and calls, therefore, on the member states to enhance and update their bilateral cooperation agreements. Furthermore, the EP supports the Commission's efforts to propose new legislation to eliminate tax barriers and takes the view that special attention should be given to registration taxes for motor vehicles previously registered in another member state.
Minority groups. The EP calls on member states which have decided under the EU Accession Treaty for Romania and Bulgaria to introduce a seven-year moratorium, until 1 January 2014, on the right to free movement within the EU for workers from those two countries, or to continue applying transitional arrangements restricting access by Romania and Bulgarian nationals to their labour markets, to “review their decisions as soon as possible, taking into consideration the principle of equality, the prohibition of discrimination, the unjustified nature of those decisions and the principle of solidarity, so that the employment rights associated with EU citizenship are no longer restricted for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens”.
The EP urges member states to “abolish policies and to annul and repeal laws that discriminate, either directly or indirectly, against the Roma and other minority groups on the grounds of race and ethnicity”. It also calls for an end to be put to all persecution, exclusion or expulsion of a minority, or confiscation of assets. MEPs also underline that massive expulsions are in breach of the directive on free movement and run counter to the fundamental values and principles on which the Union is founded.
The EP points out that some 80 million people in the EU who suffer from a disability remain faced with obstacles that are often impossible to overcome for exercising, in different forms, their right of EU citizens to freedom of movement. It calls for the creation of a programme of the Erasmus kind for persons with disabilities. (LC/transl.jl)