Brussels, 03/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - European citizenship, which is inscribed in Article 17 of the ECT and which is complementary to national citizenship, will become a greater challenge over the next few years, particularly within the perspective of enlargement but to achieve it, the EU will have to make a concerted effort to overcome current obstacles. This is what the report by Carlos Coelho asserts (EPP/DE, Portugal), which was discuses during a Wednesday plenary on the third European Commission report on Union citizenship. Mr Coelho looked at the motives for European citizenship and its different dimensions:
1) Political dimension. The reports points out: a) the right to vote and eligibility to vote in European local elections, noting that: the rate of EU citizens' participation in European elections in their host countries rather than their countries of origin, has tended to increase but remains very low at barely 9% (participation in EP elections has even fallen from 63% in 1979 to 49% in 199), whereas EP powers have increased considerably; in local elections, the registration rate on the lists has only been 26.7% on average (9% in Greece and Portugal) and participation has also been very low, except in Germany and Ireland; b) diplomatic and consular rights, indicating that according to the European Commission all European members have taken measures to ensure protection for Member State nationals who don't have representation in a third country but regret that several Member States have not laid down in their internal legal procedures the necessary procedures.
2) Administrative dimension. The report points out that: a) the right to petition, indicating that the number of petitions rose from 958 in 2000 to 1132 in 2001 (and increased by 45% in the first months of 2002), which demonstrates the interest that citizens have for this means of expressing their worries but it also stresses that the level of inadmissibility of these petitions is very high, which demonstrates the "ignorance of those presenting petitions as to the competencies of the Union"; b) access to the European Ombudsman demonstrates the same phenomenon: an increase in the number of complaints addressed to him (1874 in 2001, 1732 in 2000) and a low level of admissibility (only 313 in 2001).
3) Legal dimension. Coelho stresses the importance of this new dimension, made possible by the gradual setting up of a freedom, security and justice area. And he points out: a) the respect for fundamental rights, indicating that European citizens by and large, including legal residents, must according to Article 6 of the EUT (still the case given that the European Charter of Fundamental Rights will be binding) will guarantee fundamental freedoms. Mr Coelho also notes that the Commission report also mentions in this context the anti-discrimination directives (notably the fight against racism and xenophobia) adopted in 2000 and which Member States must implement by 2003; b) the security guarantee for citizens from threats of terrorism or organised crime (notably drug and weapons trafficking, the trade in human beings and money laundering); c) access to justice, which first of all implies that minimum rules for legal procedures are applied in the EU "a prerequisite for mutual recognition of legal rulings".
4) Social and economic dimension. Mr Coelho points out that these aspects are: a) freedom of movement and residence for European citizens (Article 18 of the ECT) in pointing out that the European Commission "very fortunately" presented proposals for overcoming the impediments to this law, notably by the directive of 23 May 2001 on the freedom of movement and residence (which makes the conditions for movement and residence more flexible and includes more legal protection), the recommendation of 25 June 2001 on the mobility of students, people in training, volunteers, teachers and trainers and the strategy adopted on 20 June 2001 for greater movement within the European Research Area; b) statute for nationals from third countries by referring to the drat directive of 5 June 2001 on which the EP gave its Opinion (and which involves immigrants and refugees legally residing in the EU for more than five years).
The Coelho report also examines the importance of the promotion of European citizenship and considers that one of the main tasks of the European Convention will be to present proposals aiming to make the goals and the values of the Union more explicit, as well as the means to revitalise its democratic legitimacy.