Citizenship of the European Union

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Citizenship of the Union was introduced by the Maastricht Treaty signed in 1992.

According to Article 17 of the Treaty of Rome (as amended) ^[1], to hold the "Citizenship of the Union" one must first hold the "nationality of a Member State". In the case of Micheletti v Delegación del Gobierno en Cantabria (C-396/90) [1992] ECR I-4239 ^[2], it was established that "it is for each member state, having due regard to Community law, to lay down the conditions for the acquisition and loss of nationality". According to the same case, dual nationality with only one nationality of a member state is sufficient to fulfill the requirements for "Citizenship of the Union".

EU citizenship offers certain rights and privileges within the EU; in many areas EU citizens have the same or similar rights as native citizens in member states. Such rights granted to EU citizens include:

the right of free movement and residence throughout the Union and the right to apply to work in any position (including national civil services with the exception of sensitive positions such as defence) (Article 18 ^[3]),
the right to vote and the right to stand in local and European elections in any Member State, other than the citizen's own, under the same conditions as the nationals of that state (Article 19 ^[4]),
the 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 (Article 20 ^[5]).

EU member states also use a common passport design, burgundy coloured with the name of the member state, national seal and the title "European Union" (or its translation).

Union citizenship continues to gain in status and the European Court of Justice has stated that Union citizenship will be the "fundamental status of nationals of Member States" (see Grzelczyk v Centre Public d'Aide Sociale d'Ottignes-Louvain-la-Neuve Case C-184/99 [2001] ECR I-6193, para 31) ^[6]. The European Commission has affirmed that Union citizenship should be the fundamental status of EU nationals with respect to matters covered by European Union treaties.