Activities of Damian BOESELAGER related to 2023/2085(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the implementation of Treaty provisions on EU citizenship
Amendments (21)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas EU citizenship was established with the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 and further enhanced by the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 ; whereas thirty years have passed since thits establishment and major social, digital, economic and political changes have taken place;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas EU citizenship is a unique construct reflecting the common democratic identity of EU citizens, and has not yet reached its full potential;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas EU citizens lack sufficient awareness, knowledge and understanding of the rights and freedoms deriving from their EU citizenship; whereas there are still substantial shortcomings in the practical application of EU citizenship and in the full exercise of its derived rights and freedoms, some of which are caused by the non-uniform implementation of EU legislation by the Member States;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the compilation, consolidation and revision of existing rights and the creation of new rights would facilitate a better and more informed exercise of the rights and freedoms deriving from EU citizenship;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas existing obstacles to the exercise of citizenship rights create situations of inequality and discrimination among citizens, in particular mobile citizens, persons living in EU cross-border regions, persons belonging to national minorities and members of vulnerable and marginalised groups, such as older people and homeless people;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Points out that the construction of EU citizenship must move forward to address the current needs and challenges of the 21st centuryEU and the complexity generated by globalisation and new technologies; stresses the negative impact of the growing digital divide on the exercise of citizenship rights, as it risks leavesing a section of the public alienated from the European project;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls that the Commission will publish its EU Citizenship Report 2023 before the end of the year and expects it to propose new initiatives to reinforce EU citizenship and address the shortcomings of its implementation; regrets that this time, the Commission has chosen to publish a call for evidence and not a public consultation as it did in previous years; expresses concern that the report may therefore be prepared on the basis of outdated data and that the results of the call for evidence, which does not contain a comprehensive overview of the latest developments and implementation gaps, may mean that the report does not reflect the current situation;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Deplores the fact that mobile citizens are less likely to exercise their right to vote and run for office in European and municipal elections in their Member States of residence, with the reasons for this including insufficient information, language barriers, difficulties in registering to vote and the low success rate of non- national candidates; calls on Member States to address this shortfall as fast as possible in light of the upcoming European elections
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Is highly concerned by the practice of certain Member States of depriving their citizens of the right to vote in national parliamentary elections when they live abroad, which leads to their exclusion from political life in both their country of origin and their country of residence; is particularly concerned by some cases where nationals temporarily living abroad face more difficulties when exercising their right to vote compared to nationals permanently living abroad in historical national or ethnic enclaves;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Considers that multilingualism within the EU institutions and in their interaction with citizens is an essential aspect to reinforce the notion of EU citizenship; highlights, in this regard, that the Council Conclusion of 13 June 2005 foresees that non-official EU languages recognised in a Member State or in a part of its territory can be used by EU citizens in their interaction with EU institutions, as well as officially used in EU institutions or bodies, including the European Parliament;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Is concerned by the difficulties and challenges faced by citizens living in EU cross-border regions, especially in the event of border closures due to EU-wide or regionalised crisis; calls, in such cases, on the Member States to maintain cross- border cooperation and cross-border life to the extent possible while respecting the principle of proportionality and maintaining a close interaction and cooperation with the relevant local and regional authorities;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Points out that there have been cases where two people who are nationals of two different Member States have been unable to complete certain formalities, such as getting married, at the consular representation of one of the Member States, even if the other Member State has no any accessible consular representation in that country;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Member States to fully implement the existing directives on mobile citizens’ rights and reiterates its call to extend mobile citizens’ rights to national and regional elections by making the necessary changes to Article 22(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in the next revision of the Treaties;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls on the Member States to guarantee the right of their expatriate nationals to vote in their country of origin, where recognised, by removing the bureaucraticany obstacles that hinder and sometimes prevent the exercise of this right; calls, particularly, on the Member States to equally guarantee such right and eliminate any kind of differential treatment between their expatriate nationals when it comes to postal voting;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Calls on the Commission, Member States, regional and local governments to increase their efforts in informing mobile EU citizens about their right to vote and run for office in European and municipal elections in their Member States of residence;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Reiterates its call on the Commission and the Member States to overcome the discrimination suffered by same-sex couples and their children when exercising the fundamental right to freedom of movement within the EU;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on the Member States to invest in adapting school curricula to teach the history of Europe and the European Union and its functioning in order to increase awareness of the added value of being a European and an EU citizen;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission to develop public consultations tailored to citizens, especially young people, in order to increase citizens’ participation; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to further improve the ‘Have your say’ portal; reiterates its proposal to create a permanent structured participation mechanism allowing citizens to deliberate on the EU’s priorities and policies, and that there should be a Youth component monitoring the application of a “youth check” throughout the EU’s legislative process as requested by the CoFE;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22 a. Calls on the Commission, Member States and regional and local authorities to increase their efforts in communicating to the public the existing participatory instruments, such as the European Citizens’ Initiative, petitions to the European Parliament, complaints to the European Ombudsman, public consultations and Citizens’ Dialogues;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls for a horizontal non- discrimination clause to be included in the EU citizenship statute as an additional safeguard of equality in the exercise of citizenship rights, with a view to ensuring non-discrimination and protecting citizens, in particular people at risk of digital exclusion, people with disabilities, persons living in EU cross-border regions, persons belonging to national minorities and members of vulnerable and marginalised groups, such as homeless people;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24 a. Calls, in the context of the next revision of the Treaties, to introduce that Parliament and Council, in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, shall be able to lay down common provisions on the acquisition and loss of citizenship of the Union by third country nationals; calls, furthermore, for the necessary changes in the Treaties that would allow third-country nationals to have access to EU citizenship if they have resided legally and continuously in the EU for five years immediately prior to the submission of the relevant application;