Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are now discussing European citizenship on the basis of the report which I had the honour of drafting and which was given almost unanimous approval in our Parliament’s Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs. I must begin by emphasising what is essential and what we do not want. What is essential is to promote awareness of a common heritage, based on a range of fundamental common traditions and values and, at the same time, of the recognition of a number of rights. What we do not want is a concept of European citizenship that is seen as the artificial creation of a supranational identity that seeks to replace feelings of nationality. Indeed, as we understand it, European citizenship is something to be superimposed and added to national citizenship, complementing and broadening it. There is no way of acquiring this other than having nationality one of the Member States. Although our Community has taken an essentially economic route, it is now much more than an economic community. It is home to more than 375 million people, who are not only consumers in a vast single market, but are also citizens of the European Union, who have the right to move freely within it, to settle in any part of its territory, for personal or professional reasons, and who hope to be able to live without fear of persecution, discrimination or violence, which accentuates the need to step up cooperation between police forces, customs services and judicial systems. Recognition of this European citizenship has been a slow process, however, which faces too many obstacles, even today. There are eight areas in which I am submitting proposals for the full application of the concept of European citizenship in its political, administrative, judicial, social and economic dimensions. First: it is crucial that we implement a strategy of promoting European citizenship, at both the institutional and legislative levels, and in terms of education and information. Second: the lack of information. European citizens must be better informed of their rights and the scope of these rights, with regard in particular to the right to petition the European Parliament and to complain to the Ombudsman. It is deplorable that most of the petitions to the European Parliament and the complaints sent to the Ombudsman are deemed unacceptable, which confirms the lack of knowledge of the petitioners about the competences of the Union. It is crucial to improve, through all available means, the European Union’s information and communication policy, which must be targeted and appropriate to the population for whom it is designed. The Union’s document base must be made accessible to the public in all the official languages and free of charge and the development of interactive portals must be promoted. Third: the steady decline in the rate of participation of the Union’s citizens in European elections, which undermines the legitimacy of our Parliament. We must adopt the measures needed to further raise voter awareness of the importance of these elections. With regard to setting a date for the next European elections, this must not coincide with national traditions or statutory holidays, so as to optimise the chances of voter participation. It does not make sense, for example, that in Portugal the day of the Europeans elections frequently coincides with a national holiday, thereby seriously damaging the electoral participation of the citizens of my country. Fourth: diplomatic and consular protection. It is important that those Member States that have not yet done so incorporate into their legal systems the measures needed to ensure diplomatic and consular protection for EU citizens whose state of origin has no representation. Fifth: protection of the citizens. The Member States must adopt all the measures needed to ensure that fundamental rights are respected, the protection of the citizens against terrorism and organised crime, support and compensation for victims, and to ensure the effective and equitable access of European citizens to justice. Particular emphasis is given to the implementation of the directives on combating discrimination, to the fight against racism and xenophobia and to equality between men and women. Sixth: the continued existence of obstacles to the exercise of freedom of movement and residence by European citizens. In order to overcome these obstacles, Member States must adopt without delay the proposal for a directive of 23 May 2001, which, by revising the existing texts, introduces essential simplifications and in particular establishes the right of permanent residence after four years of uninterrupted residence. Furthermore, the Member States must remedy the many legislative discrepancies which continue to exist and which represent an obstacle to the full expression of European citizenship in the areas of the status of individuals, justice and conditions of movement and residence for migrant workers. Seventh: barriers to the free movement of students and teachers. With regard to barriers that still remain, the action plan for mobility must be adopted as a matter of urgency, so as to facilitate and enhance the mobility of students, volunteers, teachers and trainers. Furthermore, the Member States and the competent authorities must use educational programmes to encourage a better knowledge of Europe, particularly in the form of history and language teaching. Finally, I should like to ask the Convention on the Future of the European Union to agree on the binding legal status to be given to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, to communitarise the third pillar, and to endeavour to ensure that texts in which EU policies are laid down are more accessible to the general public as a whole.

Political group: PPE-DE