Brussels, 17/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - In plenary session on Tuesday, the European Parliament rejected, by 347 votes against, with 276 votes for and 22 abstentions, the own initiative report from Italian MEP Giusto Catania (GUE/NGL) on European citizenship. “This rejection is not a backward step in efforts to build Europe,” said Mr Catania after the vote. Following the French and Dutch votes against the European Constitution, the rapporteur considered that extension of European citizenship would send a strong signal for the re-launch of the debate on the future of the Union. Despite Mr Catania's great disappointment, Francis Wurtz, leader of the GUE/NGL group, was relatively optimistic, saying that the debate must be continued. The text, which was supported by the Civil Liberties committee, was rejected because of several controversial paragraphs giving new rights to immigrants into the EU. The most disputed proposal sought to give third country nationals who have lived in the EU for at least five years, and members of their families the rights of citizens of the Union as provided for in the 2004 Directive which contains the right to travel and to reside anywhere in Member States' territory and to acquire permanent leave to remain after five years' residence in the host country. Some parts of the text, however, were supported by MEPs: the paragraph giving non-Community citizens living in the EU for more than five years the right to vote in regional elections was approved, as were the passages giving European citizens residing in another Member State the right to vote in local and regional elections.
During the debate on Monday evening, Giusto Catania argued for European citizenship as a concept derived from national citizenship, not calling into question any Member State's prerogatives. “The time has not yet come to harmonise recognition of citizenship” explained the rapporteur, but it was “useful and necessary to launch reflection on the real value of the concept of European citizenship”. The only way to continue now would be “link this concept to place of residence”, said Mr Catania, who considers that blood right, birth right and residence could all be conditions for granting citizenship. Noting that the PSE, ALDE and Greens/EFA groups, along with the European Commission, supported the idea of citizenship linked to residence, Mr Catania called on the EPP-ED to support his report. He offered to remove a reference to a European tax, which he raised initially in his report, in order to “take the wind out of the sails of those who are afraid of extending citizens' rights”. Justice, Freedom and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini felt too that the time had come to “to put the human being at the heart of rights and responsibilities, and therefore, at the heart of the European process” “What is of the utmost importance is the chapter on citizens' rights of information”, he added, saying that he was in favour of a debate on citizenship linked to residence. Ionnis Varvitsiotis (EPP-ED, Greece) had the feeling that Mr Catania was advancing his own legal principles which were not always easy to understand. From now on, and each time there was to be an extension to the concept of citizenship, the Treaties would have to be amended, he went on. Marie Line Reynaud (PSE, France) felt that, with the compromise amendments, considerable progress would have been made, particularly with regard to the European voter's card for the whole of the EU. Ignasi Guardans Cambo (ALDE, Spain) considered that we could not continue in a situation where millions of people contribute to our societies but have no say in them. German EPP-ED MEP Ewa Klamt thought the rapporteur was off line, and immediately warned that the EPP-ED would reject the report.