Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. EU citizenship report 2013. EU citizens: your rights, your future

Citizens are and must be at the heart of European integration. To underscore this, the EU institutions made 2013 the European Year of Citizens to give new impetus to EU citizenship and to the citizens’ dimension of the European project. At a time when the EU is taking major steps towards a deep and genuine Economic and Monetary Union, of which democratic legitimacy is a cornerstone, with a Political Union on the horizon, it is all the more important to focus on the things the EU is doing to make citizens’ lives easier, to help them understand their rights and involve them in a debate on the Europe they want to live in and build for future generations.

EU citizenship brings citizens new rights and opportunities. Moving and living freely within the EU is the right they associate most closely with EU citizenship. Given modern technology and the fact that it is now easier to travel, freedom of movement allows Europeans to expand their horizons beyond national borders, to leave their country for shorter or longer periods, to come and go between EU countries to work, study and train, to travel for business or for leisure, or to shop across borders. Free movement increases social and cultural interactions within the EU and creates closer bonds between Europeans. In addition, it generates mutual economic benefits for businesses and citizens, including those who remain at home, as the EU steadily removes internal obstacles.

In 2010, the Commission presented its first EU Citizenship Report and announced 25 actions to ensure that EU citizens can enjoy their rights in their daily lives, without being confronted with unnecessary obstacles. Since then, the Commission has acted on these 25 commitments. In this 2013 EU Citizenship Report, the Commission is putting forward twelve new actions in six key areas to further remove obstacles standing in the way of citizens’ enjoyment of their EU rights.

See also:
- Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions under Article 25 TFEU on progress towards effective EU Citizenship 2011-2013

ESO: Background Information: EU Citizenship: Commission proposes 12 new actions to boost citizens' rights http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-eu-citizenship-commission-proposes-12-new-actions-to-boost-citizens-rights/

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