Brussels, 12 July 2002
“
THE MADRID APPEAL”: FOR A
CITIZENSHIP OF RESIDENCE
At a time when many questions are raised about the future of the
European Union and in particular about a possible European constitution, ENAR (European Network against Racism) had the occasion to present its
views to the Convention on the future of Europe.
ENAR stated that there cannot be real democracy without making EU
citizenship available to third-country nationals who are legal residents on EU
territory.
This is the core claim of ENAR’s citizenship campaign, kicked off at a conference in Madrid (May 31 - June 1) by the present “Madrid Appeal”, a text agreed upon by ENAR member organisations :
Madrid
Appeal
With the prospect of expansion and the possible establishment of a Constitution, the European Union (EU) has reached a major crossroads.
This expansion and the establishment of a Constitution must take place on the basis of respect for the principles of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, the “universal and indivisible principles of dignity, liberty and equality”. With this in mind, the ENAR conference considers that the EU must take into account the existence on its territory of residents who live, work and participate in everyday social life, without being fully acknowledged as citizens.
The definition of EU citizenship is based upon nationality, and this gives rise to an insidious form of discrimination between residents, some of whom are EU citizens regardless of their country of residence, while others are excluded from this citizenship, whatever their links to the host country or their length of residence may be.
Residence creates rights, which may be social, union-related, cultural or others. It even enables, on certain conditions, those individuals whose residence status is irregular to apply for regular legal status, and those whose status is already regular to apply for status as nationals.
European citizens have the right to vote and to be elected in local and European elections in the EU country where they reside. At present, millions of people legally residing in the EU are excluded from the rights linked to European citizenship, such as political rights and the right to free movement, just because they are not nationals of an EU country.
On the occasion of the Convention on the Future of the EU and of the consolidation of EU rights, the ENAR conference proposes that citizenship such as defined in the Treaties be extended to residents legally settled on EU territory.
With this in mind, ENAR suggests a revised wording for Article 17 of the Consolidated Version of the Treaties establishing the European Communities:
“Every
person holding the nationality of a Member State or residing with legal
status within a Member State shall be a
citizen of the Union.”
The ENAR Conference is launching a campaign for this wording of Article 17 to be adopted when the EU Constitution is established.