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A citizen of the European Union

Source: licencja: CC 0.

Link to the lesson

Before you start you should know
  • Poland has been a member state of the European Union since 2004.

  • According to the Treaty of Maastricht every citizen of a member state of the European Union is also a citizen of the European Union.

You will learn
  • You will understand what European citizenship is.

  • You will be able to explain the rights of a citizen of the European Union.

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nagranie abstraktu

Citizenship of the European Union was introducedto introduceintroduced by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and confirmedto confirmconfirmed in the Charter of FundamentalfundamentalFundamental Rights of the European Union. It has been granted to all persons who have citizenship of a member state of the European Union, which means that they also Polish citizens are entitledto be entitled toentitled to it.

The scope of EU competences is smaller than that of the member states, which means that the possibility of granting rights is limited. However, the scope of EU civil rights is greater than in the member states. It also includes rights related to inter‑state life within the Union. Although Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union mentions that citizens are subject to the obligations provided for in the treaties, EU law consists only of rights and does not impose any obligations. Also, the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union has not laid down any obligations.

The idea of European citizenship appeared for the first time in 1947, but it was implemented only after the Treaty of Maastricht. The current legal status has been in force since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon (December 1, 2009) with which the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights has acquired binding force.

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Podpis: Nature of European Union citizenship. Fotografia barwna przedstawiająca powiewającą flagę Unii Europejskiej. Na niej umieszczono następujące napisy: 1. Personal. It connects the Union and any natural person who has the nationality of a member state. Therefore, by its very nature, it is not granted to legal persons, although some of them enjoy the same rights. Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union defines a citizen as any person having the nationality of a member state; however, legal persons do not enjoy full rights, for example they do not have from the possibility of participating in elections to the European Parliament. 2. Mutual. This applies to the mutual relations of the relationship as a legal relationship. Citizens have specific rights that they can use and certain obligations imposed on them that they must comply with. The Union must ensure respect for and the ability to exercise these rights as well as enforce obligations. 3. Complementary. It does not replace national citizenship but merely complements it by extending it to further elements. National citizenship is also not changed in any way and it is superior to the European Union. 4. Dependent. It is dependent on national citizenship. European Union citizenship is acquired and lost along with the citizenship of a member state. It can not be done independently. Due to various legal regulations in individual member states regarding national citizenship, there is no uniform European Unionwide method of acquiring or losing European Union citizenship. 5. Apparent. Since the dependence of European Union citizenship on the national citizenship is absolute, it is a virtual bond. It is not important what the criteria for acquiring a national citizenship are, but only the fact of their fulfillment is sufficient to obtain European Union citizenship.
Nature of European Union citizenship
Source: licencja: CC 0.

The rights of citizens of the European Union may be divided into two areas. The first area is fundamental rights, resulting from the constitutions of member states and only strengthenedto strengthenstrengthened by the protection of the European institutions. The second is the rights of citizens of the Union, indicatingto indicateindicating their equality regardless of the state from which they come from. Citizenship of the European Union is not associated with any individual's duties towards the European Union, although they are provided for in the Treaty introducing citizenship.

Political rights

  • voting in European elections: a right to vote and stand in elections to the European Parliament, in any EU member state,

  • voting in local elections: a right to vote and stand in local elections in an EU state other than their own, under the same conditions as the nationals of that state,

  • accessing European Union documents: a right to access to European Parliament, Council of the European Union, and European Commission documents,

  • petitioning the European Parliament and the Ombudsman: a right to petition the European Parliament and the right to apply to the European Ombudsman in order to bring to his attention any cases of poor administration by the EU institutions and bodies, with the exception of the legal bodies,

  • language rights: a right to apply to the EU institutions in one of the official languages and to receive a replyreplyreply in that same language.

Rights of free movement

  • right to free movement and residence: a right of free movement and residence throughout the Union and the right to work in any position (including national civil services with the exception of those postspostposts in the public sector that involve the exercise of powers conferredto conferconferred by public law and the safeguardsafeguardsafeguard of general interests of the state or local authorities),

  • freedom from discrimination on nationality: a right not to be discriminated against on grounds ofon grounds ofon grounds of nationality within the scopewithin the scopewithin the scope of application of the Treaty.

Rights abroad

  • right to consular protection: a right to protection by the diplomatic or consular authorities of other member states when in a non‑EU member state, if there are no diplomatic or consular authorities from the citizen's own state: this is due to the fact that not all member states maintainto maintainmaintain embassies in every country in the world.

Exercise 1

Analyze the problem: the existence of the EU citizenship using the SWOT analysis method.

When discovering the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the existence and functioning of the EU citizenship, try to think about it from the perspective of various stakeholders (i.e. the EU as an organization, the European society, national states, individuals, etc.).

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Wykonaj zadanie zgodnie z poleceniem.
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Exercise 2
Ćwiczenie alternatywne: Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise. Explain the meaning of following words: to be entitled to; fundamental; to strengthen; to indicate; to confer; safeguard; on grounds of; within the scope. If it's too difficult, use lesson's glossary.

Keywords

citizenship of the European Union, Maastricht Treaty, Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

Glossary

to introduce
to introduce
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Nagranie słówka: to introduce

wprowadzać

to confirm
to confirm
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Nagranie słówka: to confirm

potwierdzać

to be entitled to
to be entitled to
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Nagranie słówka: to be entitled to

być uprawnionym

fundamental
fundamental
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Nagranie słówka: fundamental

podstawowe

to strengthen
to strengthen
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Nagranie słówka: to strengthen

wzmacniać

to indicate
to indicate
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Nagranie słówka: to indicate

wskazywać

reply
reply
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Nagranie słówka: reply

odpowiedź

post
post
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Nagranie słówka: post

stanowisko

to confer
to confer
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Nagranie słówka: to confer

przyznawać

safeguard
safeguard
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Nagranie słówka: safeguard

zabezpieczenie

on grounds of
on grounds of
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Nagranie słówka: on grounds of

na podstawie

within the scope
within the scope
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Nagranie słówka: within the scope

w zakresie

to maintain
to maintain
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Nagranie słówka: to maintain

utrzymywać