Madam President, this proposal, which was presented in July 2001, is a proposal for a directive that seeks to codify and develop in the widest possible context European citizenship and above all the Community acquis as regards the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States. The Council common position – this should be said – was drawn up and adopted under the Italian Presidency. For bureaucratic reasons, we have only reached the debating stage today. On some points, this Council common position diverges from the Commission’s initial proposal, but it is, however, highly innovative as regards the current acquis. For example, concerning the right of residence, the residence permit is being replaced by a simple registration. A permanent residence permit will be automatically introduced after five years, and protection against expulsion will in general also be stepped up, especially in the case of long-term residents. First and foremost, however, this directive has the merit of strengthening and simplifying the very complex legislation that had tried to regulate this delicate area since 1968. The directive will replace nine directives and amend a regulation. This means that, from now on, it will be a type of single text identifying what rights European citizens have, and will have, to move and reside within the territory of the European Union. New value will also be given to the definition of citizen, with the term no longer being defined simply as a worker, student or pensioner, but as a citizen who, as a person, has citizenship. I would remind you that we are talking about Community citizens and their families, even if they are citizens of third countries. This directive does not deal with non-EU citizens who regularly reside in Union territory. The Union has, therefore, finally provided new legislation. We can describe it as an almost historic step, which is, at any rate, certainly important. I would need more time, too much time, to mention the many things that will change even in the daily life of citizens. Here are just the most important. Unmarried partners: from now on in countries where national legislation grants rights to unmarried partners that are equivalent to marriage, such partners should be considered married to all intents and purposes and therefore benefit from the same rights. I remind you that, currently, registered partnerships between same sex and different sex partners are only possible in the Netherlands and in Belgium, countries where civil marriage for homosexual partners exists. In countries where there is no specific legislation for registered partnerships, Article 3 of the directive will apply. This is a difficult article to interpret and apply and so it will be up to the Court of Justice to interpret and clarify it. The rapporteur believes that a genuinely historic step forward has been taken. For the first time in a Community legislative text of a binding nature, the rights of unmarried couples are recognised even if, and I remind you of this, it is being done in line with national legislation. As regards the rights of family, there are some very interesting changes in this area. As regards direct descendents, the only direct descendents deemed family members within the meaning of the directive are those who are under the age of 21 or are dependents. For direct descendents in the ascending line to be deemed as such and, therefore, as family members within the meaning of the directive, they must be dependents. I regret the fact that, on this point, there has been no significant progress in relation to the current legislation. Perhaps Parliament did not want to impose any conditions, at least as regards direct descendents. Other innovations concern the right of entry, movement and residence. Suffice to say that this directive fully simplifies all the current formalities. I said before that a major change introduced concerns the right of residence that is obtained automatically after five years of regular residence. This is the real point, the central point of the directive. There would be many other points, but it is enough to remember that expulsion is being abolished but not in all cases. I will quickly move onto the conclusions: expulsion can occur – this is what the Council decided – only for serious reasons of public order or public safety. Briefly, I consider that it has been better to accept a compromise, imperfect though it certainly is, as regards the Commission proposal and the improvements made by the Committee on Citizen’s Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs, rather than to reject the directive which will certainly be a milestone in creating European citizenship.

Political group: PPE-DE