EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 26.10.2004 
COM(2004)695 final 
. 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 
Fourth Report on Citizenship of the Union 
(1 May 2001 – 30 April 2004) 
   
{SEC(2004)1280}  
. 
 
EN 2   EN CONTENTS 
1. Introduction................................................................................................................ .. 4 
2. Citizenship of the Union .............................................................................................. 4 3. Rights conferred on Union citizens in  Part Two of the EC Treaty .............................. 5 
3.1. Freedom of movement and the right of residence........................................................ 5 3.2. Equal treatment in terms of nationality under Article 12............................................. 7 
3.3. Electoral rights .......................................................................................................... ... 8 
3.4. Right to diplomatic and consular protection ................................................................ 9 3.5. Rights relating to non-judicial m eans of redress and to language ............................... 9 
4. Reinforcing citizenship of the Union th rough the Charter of Fundamental Rights of 
the European Union...................................................................................................... 9 
5. Conclusions................................................................................................................ 1 0 
Annex: references.............................................................................................................. ....... 12 
 
EN 3   EN  
ANNEXES (in SEC(2004)1280)  
(1) PREVIOUS REPORTS ON CITIZENSHIP OF THE UNION 
(2) UNION CITIZENSHIP AS SEEN BY EUROPEANS IN PUBLIC OPINION SURVEYS 
(3) INFORMATION, EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE CONCERNING CITIZENS’ RIGHTS 
(4) SECONDARY LEGISLATION ADOPTED IN RELATION TO RIGHTS UNDER PART TWO 
OF THE EC-TREATY 
(5) CITIZENS WHO HAVE EXERCISED THEIR RIGHT TO FREE MOVEMENT 
(6) APPLICATION OF THE CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS 
(7) LIST OF REFERENCES 
 
EN 4   EN 1. I NTRODUCTION1  
Article 22 of the Treaty establishing the European Community requires the 
Commission to report to the European Pa rliament, the Council and the European 
Economic and Social Committee every three years on the application of provisions of Part Two of the EC Treat y (Citizenship of the Union) . Reports on citizenship of 
the Union focus consequently on the rights of Union citizens under Part Two of the 
EC Treaty. This is the Commission’s Four th Report on Citizenship of the Union, 
which covers the period from May 2001 to April 2004. 
The purpose of the Report is to present developments relating to Union citizenship 
and related rights and to assess the need fo r other provisions stre ngthening the rights 
of Union citizens. With this Report, th e Commission fulfils its obligation under 
Article 22 of the EC Treaty. 
2. C
ITIZENSHIP OF THE UNION  
Every person holding the nationa lity of a Member State is also a citizen of the Union, 
pursuant to Article 17 of the EC Treaty. 
The importance of Union citizenship lies in  the fact that the Union citizens have 
genuine rights  under Community law. The rights c onferred on citizens of the Union 
by Part Two of the EC Treaty may be gr ouped in the following four categories: 
– a personal right to free movement a nd residence subject to limitations and 
conditions laid down in the Treaty and in  the secondary legislation (Article 18); 
– electoral rights of Union citizens in European parliamentary and municipal 
elections in the Member State of residence even if they are not  nationals of that 
State (Article 19), which can be seen in the framework of universal suffrage 
guaranteed by Article 190; 
– protection by diplomatic and consular aut horities of any Member State in a third 
country where the citizen’s own Member St ate is not represented (Article 20); and 
– access to non-judicial means of redre ss, through access to the Ombudsman and a 
right to petition the European  Parliament (Article 21). 
Furthermore, Article 17(2) of the EC Treaty provides that citizen s of the Union shall 
enjoy the rights conferred by this Treaty and shall be subject to duties imposed 
thereby. The most significant of the rights outside Part Tw o is protection against all 
forms of discrimination on grounds of nationality under Article 12. 
The Commission stresses the importance of information and communication  
concerning the rights conferred by Union citizenship. Citizens are entitled to be 
aware of these rights. They will  feel that the EU is closer  them if continuous action is 
                                                 
1 The annexes can be found in the acco mpanying Working Paper SEC(2004)1280. 
 
EN 5   EN taken to improve their genera l awareness of their rights, to provide them with easy 
access to reliable information about their ri ghts and to feed back their experience. 
Union citizenship depends on national rules as regards acquisition and loss of 
citizenship . Declaration No 2 on nationality of a Member State appended to the 
Maastricht Treaty confirms that the quest ion of whether an i ndividual possesses the 
nationality of a Member State is settled solely by reference to the national law of the Member State concerned. Access to Union citizenship is thus defined through 
national laws on nationality, includi ng conditions for naturalisation. 
Without prejudice to the fact that the Memb er States alone remain competent in the 
area of nationality laws, the Commission ha s presented its views on naturalisation of 
legal migrants in the Communication on immi gration, employment and integration in 
2003. [1] The 1999 Tampere Council endorsed a long-term objective that long-term 
residents should be offered the opportunity to obtain the nationality of the Member 
State in which they are resident. This w ould automatically mean gaining citizenship 
of the Union as well. The Communication se es the acquisition of nationality as a 
means of facilitating integration of  immigrants, and makes a number of 
recommendations as regards naturalisation. 
Community action in the fields of education, training and youth  contributes to 
ensuring that citizens are enab led to participate actively in European democratic life 
and society. In particular, this goal is pursu ed under the follow -up to the Report on 
the concrete future objectives of educa tion systems [2], and the Commission White 
Paper on “A new impetus for European Youth” [3], adopted in November 2001. The main concern is to make citizenship a reality by giving European citizens, 
particularly young people, the necessary comp etences and directly involving them in 
the European integration process. 
3. R
IGHTS CONFERRED ON UNION CITIZENS IN PART TWO OF THE EC TREATY  
3.1. Freedom of movement and the right of residence 
The Third Report on Union citi zenship already described the need for codification 
and consolidation of Community legislatio n on free movement and residence in the 
context of the Commission proposal [4] for a  Directive on the right of Union 
citizens and the Members of their familie s to move and reside freely within the 
territory of the Member States [5]. Directive 2004/38/EC [6] was finally adopted 
on 29 April 2004 and published on 30 Apr il 2004. Member States will have two 
years, until 30 April 2006, to bring into for ce the national instruments necessary to 
comply with the Directive.  
The Directive marks a major step forward in terms of freedom  of movement and 
residence in relation to the existing situati on in line with the expectations expressed 
by citizens. It has the potential to make an  enormous difference to the lives of the 
millions of citizens who currently reside in  a Member State other than their own and 
of the many more who will want to do so in the future. It will also encourage 
mobility of Union citizens across the European Union, which in return will have a 
positive impact on the competitiveness and growth of European economies. 
 
EN 6   EN The Directive, firstly, codifi es in a single instrument the complex legislative corpus 
and the rich case-law on free movement and residence, which will make these rights 
clearer and more transparent for Union ci tizens and for national administrations. The 
Directive amends Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 [7] on freedom of movement for 
workers and repeals 9 directives [8]. It  also replaces Commission Regulation (EEC) 
No 1251/70 [9], which will have to be repealed by the Commission. 
Secondly, it creates a single legal regime fo r free movement and residence within the 
context of citizenship of the Union while ma intaining the acquired rights of workers. 
Thirdly  it facilitates the exercise  of the right of reside nce by simplifying conditions 
and formalities, creating a permanent right of residence and reinforcing the rights of family members. 
Union citizens will be able to reside in a Member State for three months without any 
other condition than the requirement to hol d a valid identity card or passport. For 
periods longer than three months and up to five years, the right of residence remains 
subject to conditions: Union citizens must  either be workers or self-employed 
persons; or have sufficient resources for th emselves and their family members not to 
become a burden on the social assistance sy stem of the host Member State and have 
comprehensive sickness insurance; or, if they are students, be enrolled in an 
accredited educational establishment, have  comprehensive sickness insurance and 
assure the relevant national authoritie s, by means of a declaration or by any 
equivalent means, that they have sufficien t resources not to become a burden for the 
social assistance system of the host Member State. 
However, the requirement for a residence ca rd has been abolished for Union citizens. 
It is replaced by the possibility for Member States to require Union citizens to register with the relevant  national authorities, who will immediately issue a 
registration certificate. 
Another important innovation is the creati on of a permanent right of residence, 
acquired after five years of continued resi dence in the host Member State. It is no 
longer subject to any conditions. This w ill greatly facilitate the lives of Union 
citizens who are long-term resi dents. It will also entit le those of them who are 
inactive, such as retired persons, to  full equal treatment with nationals. 
The Directive lays down clearly the ri ght for Union citizens and their family 
members to equal treatment in the host Member State and e xpressly defines the 
exceptions from this rule. These are that Member States are not obliged to grant 
persons other than workers, self-employed persons and their family members, social 
assistance during the first three months of  residence or maintenance assistance for 
studies prior to the acquisiti on of the permanent right of residence. The Directive 
also provides that an expulsion measure may not be the automatic consequence of 
recourse to the social assistance of a Member State. 
The Directive provides, for the first time, that Member States must admit the 
registered partner of a Union citizen as a family member, provided the host Member 
State treats registered partne rships as equivalent to marri age. In any case, all Member 
States have an obligation to facilitate entr y and residence of partners with whom the 
Union citizen has a durable relationship. The Di rective reinforces the rights of family 
 
EN 7   EN members by granting them an autonomous right of residence in the event of the death 
or departure of the Union citizen or termination of the marriage. 
The Directive better defines the possibility for Member States to restrict the right of 
residence of Union citizens and their fa mily members on grounds of public policy, 
public security or public health. It lays  down a series of general principles 
established by the case-law of the Court of Justice, which Member States must respect when adopting any restri ctions. In particular it pr ovides that measures taken 
on grounds of public policy or public security sh all comply with the principle of 
proportionality and shall be based excl usively on the persona l conduct of the 
individual concerned. It also introduces a reinforced protection against expulsion in 
the case of permanent residence or if Union citizens have resided in the host member 
State for the previous ten y ears or if they are minor. 
Relating to the implementation of the existing Co mmunity legislation on the right 
of free movement and residence , the Commission adopted a Communication on 
'Free Movement of Workers - achieving the full benefits and potential' in December 
2002.[10] In March 2003, the Commission adopted its second Report [11] on the implementation of the three Directives [ 12] on the right of residence of Union 
citizens and their family members who ar e not economically active in the host 
Member State, covering the period from 1999 to 2002. 
The Agreement [13] between the European  Community and its Member States and 
the Swiss Confederation on the free moveme nt of persons entered into force on 1 
June 2002. It provides for the free movement of person s for Union citizens and 
Swiss nationals  on the basis of the rules applying in the EU. It grants the same 
living, employment and working conditions as  those enjoyed by nationals and covers 
the fundamental rights of entry, residenc e, employment, esta blishment on a self-
employed basis, study and the right to social security, on the basis of non-
discrimination by nationality a nd equality of treatment. 
Greater intra-Community mobility, including the increasing number of retired Union 
citizens who reside outside their home c ountry, means that more and more Union 
citizens are dying in a Member State of whic h they are not nationals. This raises the 
problem of repatriation of mortal remains . The European Parliament has called on 
the Commission to see that the standards a nd procedures applied in the cross-border 
transportation of mortal remains are harm onised throughout the EU.[14] This subject 
can be identified as a possible new area fo r strengthening the right of free movement. 
3.2. Equal treatment in terms of nationality under Article 12 
The Court of Justice gave a number of major judgments strengthening the protection 
of Union citizens in the context of Arti cles 12, 17 and 18 during the reporting period.
 
[15] It attaches particular importance to the principle of non-discrimination on the 
grounds of nationality in c onnection with Union citizenship: the f undamental status 
of Union citizenship enables those who are in  the same situation to enjoy within the 
scope of the Treaty the same treatment in law irrespective of their nationality, subject 
to such exceptions as are expressly pr ovided for. On the other hand, different 
situations must not be treated in the same way. Situations falling within the scope of 
Community law include those involving the exercise of  the fundamental freedoms 
guaranteed by the Treaty, in particul ar of the right of free movement. 
 
EN 8   EN 3.3. Electoral rights 
Elections to the European Parliament  are conducted in accordance with principles 
common to all Member States. These we re laid down by D ecision 2002/772 [16] 
amending the 1976 Act [17] concerning the election of members of the European 
Parliament, which the Council adopted on th e basis of Article 190(4) of the EC 
Treaty. It took effect on 1 April 2004. 
During the reporting period, electoral rights in  elections to the European Parliament 
were extended to Gibraltar, when the United Kingdom adopted national legislation 
enabling the Gibraltar electorate to take  part in these elections in May 2003, 
following the “ Matthews v. United Kingdom ” case [18]. Spain filed a complaint with 
the Commission against the United Kingdom under Article 227 of the EC Treaty in 
July 2003. According to Spain, the new UK legislation violates Articles 17, 19, 189 
and 190 of the EC Treaty and Annex II to the 1976 Act. In October 2003, the Commission invited the parties to find an amicable solution.[19] Nevertheless, Spain 
brought an action against the United Kingdom before the Court of Justice in March 
2004.[20] 
Political parties at European level  contribute to forming a European awareness and 
to expressing the political will of the citi zens of the Union (Ar ticle 191 of the EC 
Treaty). Regulation 2004/2003/EC [21] on polit ical parties at European level was 
adopted in November 2003. It establishe s a framework for financing European 
political parties from the Community budget. 
Union citizens have the right to participate in elections to the European 
Parliament in the Member State of residence . The Commission took several 
actions to prepare for the 2004 elections to  the European Parliament under Directive 
93/109/EC, including issuing a Communicatio n with a view to ensuring that all 
Union citizens were able to par ticipate in the June elections.[22] 
As regards electoral rights of Union citi zens in municipal elections , the 
Commission reported to the European Par liament and the Council on the application 
of Directive 94/80/EC [23]  in May 2002.[24] The Direc tive was adapted by the Act 
of Accession of ten new Member States in  2003 to add referenc es to basic local 
government units of the new Member States  to the Annex to the Directive.[25] 
As mentioned above, the right to free movement has been extended to cover 
Switzerland. The free movement of persons is also guarant eed for Union citizens and 
nationals of Norway, Iceland and Liechtens tein in the European Economic Area. 
Electoral rights of Union citizens being coro llary to the exercise of the right to free 
movement and residence, the next step could be to establish the right to vote and 
stand as a candidate in local elections,  through agreements between the Member 
States and the third countries concerned. Currently, the right to participate in local 
elections in the country of residence exists between some Member States and the 
EFTA countries on the basis of bilateral agreements. 
Recurrent petitions, parliamentary questi ons and public correspondence reveal the 
concerns of many Union citizens regarding a gap in electoral rights at the present 
level of Community law: Union citizens ma y still be deprived of important civic 
rights as a result of the exercise of  the right to free movement, namely the right to 
 
EN 9   EN participate in national or regional elections . The Member States do not grant 
electoral rights at national or regional elections to nati onals of other Member States 
residing in their territory. [26] Before enlargement, this situation concerned about five million Union citizens of voting age who resided in another Member State. 
3.4. Right to diplomatic and consular protection 
Following completion of the requisite legi slative procedures by all the Member 
States, Decision 95/553 [27] regarding protection for citizens of the Union by 
diplomatic and consular representations of the Member States in non-member 
countries entered into force in May 2002. The protection offered by embassies may 
cover assistance in cases of d eath, serious accident or il lness, arrest or detention, 
violent crime, or the relief and repatria tion of distressed citizens of the Union. 
3.5. Rights relating to non-judicial means of redress and to language 
Union citizens are entitled to petition the European Parliament  on matters 
concerning them directly which fall within the sphere of activi ties of the European 
Union. Parliament received 1283 peti tions in 2001-2002, of which 744 were 
admissible, and in 2002-2003 it receive d 1514 petitions, of which 642 were 
admissible.  
The European Ombudsman  investigates complaints a bout maladministration in the 
activities of Community institutions and bod ies, with the exception of the Court of 
Justice and the Court of First Instance ac ting in their judicial role. Mr Jacob 
Söderman served as European Ombudsman during the reporting period until the end of March 2003. By Decision 2003/158 [28] th e European Parliament appointed Mr 
Nikiforos Diamandouros as European Ombudsman in January 2003 and he took office in April 2003. The number of the complaints received by the Ombudsman has risen steadily during the reporting period : 1874 complaints were received in 2001, 
2211 in 2002 and 2436 in 2003. [29] The vast ma jority of the comp laints come from 
private individuals (e.g. in 2002, 2041 compla ints were sent directly by individual 
citizens), but either fall out side the mandate of the Ombudsman or are inadmissible 
(e.g. 29% of the complaints examined in 2001 appeared to be w ithin the mandate). 
The right to use one’s own language  is a reflection of the general principle of good 
administration. Correspondence from the general public to the Commission is handled in accordance with the Code of  Good Administrative Behaviour, which 
refers to Article 21 of the EC Tr eaty as regards correspondence.[30]  
4. R
EINFORCING CITIZENSHIP OF THE UNION THROUGH THE CHARTER OF 
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION  
There is a close link between Union citizen ship and the fundamental rights included 
in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of th e European Union [31] . By establishing 
citizenship of the Union, the Union placed the individual at the heart of its activities. 
The Charter applies the concept of Union citizenship in several provisions [32], and it contains a specific Chapter, Chapter V Ci tizen’s rights, includi ng the rights listed 
in Part Two of the EC Treaty. 
 
EN 10   EN On 2001, the Commission decided that any pro posal for a legislative instrument or 
any rules and regulations which it adopted would be checked at the drafting stage for 
compliance with the Charter. [33] 
In September 2002 a Network of fundamental rights experts  was set up in 
response to a request from the European Parl iament. Its objective is to ensure a high 
degree of expertise in rela tion to each of the Member St ates and the European Union 
as a whole. The Network produces an Annual Report on how fundamental rights are safeguarded in practice. It submitted its first report, the Annual Report 2002 to the 
Commission in March 2003. The Annual Report 2003 was delivered in April 2004. 
To promote information actions  relating to fundamental rights, a budget line of 
1 million euros was established in the Union budget in 2002. Part of it has been used for the contract concerning the above-m entioned Network. With the rest, the 
Commission has financed projects to prom ote awareness of fundamental rights in 
Greece, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. 
The question of the  legal status  of the Charter, that is whether to make it mandatory, 
featured prominently in the debate of th e Convention on the Future of Europe. It 
culminated in the incorporation of the Charter as Part Two of the Constitutional 
Treaty, which will make it legally mandatory.  
The Treaty of Nice improved the procedure fo r detecting a clear da nger of a Member 
State committing a serious breach  of fundamental rights under Article 7 of the EU 
Treaty . In the Communication of October 2003 on 'Article 7 of the Treaty on 
European Union'[34] the Commission stre ssed the need for a proactive policy to 
safeguard common values and examined th e material and formal conditions for 
implementing Article 7 in the event of a se rious and persistent breach or the clear 
risk of such breaches of common values. The European Parliament Resolution of 
April 2004 supported an inter-institutional dial ogue on a set of co mmon criteria and 
the principles governing the opening of  the Article 7 procedure. [35] 
A further strengthening of fundamental right s is planned through the establishment of 
an Agency of Fundamental Rights , which will be an extension of the existing 
European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia in Vienna. [36] A public consultation on the future mandate and tasks of the Agency is being launched at the 
moment. 
5. C
ONCLUSIONS  
Citizenship of the Union has developed over twelve years of existence into a source 
of real and concrete rights. 
The Commission finds that the provisions of Part Two of the EC Treaty concerning 
rights of Union citizens ar e applied on the whole corr ectly and without serious 
problems. The Member States have implem ented the existing secondary legislation 
in all areas covered by Pa rt Two. The problems identifie d are mostly due to bad 
application and incorrect practices rather th an to failure of na tional legislation to 
comply with Community legislati on. Information concerning the proper 
interpretation of Union rules and the proper a pplication of citizens’ rights is crucial. 
 
EN 11   EN Information and communication activities mu st be targeted both at Union citizens 
and at national authorities administering th e issues relating to the rights in question. 
The need to strengthen the rights of Union ci tizens must also be assessed in the light 
of the results of Intergovernmental Conference that agreed on the Constitutional Treaty, Article III-13 of which corresponds to  the existing Article 22 of the EC 
Treaty. In any case, the following issues can be raised as potential subjects for 
strengthening the right s of Union citizens: 
– The Commission draws attention to co mplaints related to the lack of the right of 
non-national Union citizens to vote and to  stand as a candidate in national or 
regional elections in the Member State of residence . However, decisions 
concerning possible measures to be adopted  under Article 22(2) of the EC Treaty 
still require careful consideration. 
– The principle of the free movement of persons has been extended to Switzerland, 
and it is also guaranteed in the European  Economic Area. The next step could be 
to establish the right of citizens of the contracting parties to vote and to stand 
as a candidate in local elections in their country of residence . This can be 
achieved through an agreement between the Member States and the third countries 
concerned.  
– There is no EU-wide provision uniformly governing the repatriation of mortal 
remains from one Member States to another. The relevant standards and 
procedures could be harmonised thr oughout the Union. The Commission will 
consider the possible actions needed, on th e basis of Article 18 of the EC Treaty. 
– Article III-11 of the Constitutional Treaty would transfer decision-making powers 
concerning measures to facilitate diplom atic and consular protection  of Union 
citizens to the Union and thus strengthen the position of these rights. Measures on 
the basis of this provision would replace measures based on Article 22(2) of the 
EC Treaty. 
Lastly, the Commission underlines the valu e of confirming the rights of Union 
citizens in the Constitutional Treaty by incorporating the Charter of Fundamental 
Rights  with mandatory legal status . 
 
EN 12   EN ANNEX : REFERENCES  
[N.B. The references are currently availa ble in the English, French and German 
versions of the Report. The other lan guage versions follow without delays.] 
(1) COM(2003)336. 
(2) COM(2001)59. 
(3) COM(2001)681. 
(4) COM(2001)275. 
(5) COM(2001)506, p. 8-9. 
(6) European Parliament and Council Directive 200 4/38/EC on the right of  citizens of the 
Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the 
Member States, amending Regulation (EEC ) No 1612/68 and repe aling Directives 
64/221/EEC, 68/360/EEC, 72/194/EEC , 73/148/EEC,75/34/EEC, 75/35/EEC, 
90/365/EEC, 90/365/EEC and 93/96/EEC, OJ L 158, 30.4.2004. p. 77. 
(7) OJ L 257, 19.10.1968, p. 2. 
(8) Directives 64/221/EEC, 68/360/EEC , 72/194/EEC, 73/148/EEC, 75/34/EEC, 
75/35/EEC, 90/364/EEC, 90/365/EEC and 93/96/EEC. 
(9) OJ. L 142, 30.6.1970, s. 24. 
(10) COM(2002)694. 
(11) COM(2003)101. 
(12) Directives 90/364/EEC, 90/365/EEC and 93/96/EEC. 
(13) OJ L 114, 20.4.2002, p. 6. 
(14) Resolution 2002/2032(INI), adopted in the plenary 4.12.2003. 
(15) See inter alia Case C-184/99 Grzelczyk  [2001] ECR I-6193, pa ragraph 31; Case C-
224/98 D’Hoop  [2002] ECR I-6191, paragraph 28, and Case C-148/02 Garcia Avello  
[2003] ECR I-0000, paragraphs 22 and 23. 
(16) OJ L 283, 21.10.2002. 
(17) The Act is annexed to Decision 76/787/ ECSC, EEC, Euratom of 20 September 1976, 
OJ L 278, 8.10.1976, p. 5. 
(18) Judgement of the European Court of  Human Rights of 18 February 1999. 
(19) PV(2003)1632, see Commission press rele ase IP/03/1479 of 29 October 2003. 
 
EN 13   EN (20) Case C-145/04 Spain v. UK , action brought on 18 March 2004, OJ C 106, 30.4.2004, 
p. 43. 
(21) European Parliament and Council Regul ation (EC) No 2004/2003 of 4 November 
2003 on the regulations governing political pa rties at European level and the rules 
regarding their funding, OJ L 297, 15.11.2003, p 1. 
(22) Directive 93/109/EC laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to 
vote and stand as a candidate in elections to  the European Parliament for citizens of 
the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals, OJ L 329, 
30.12.1993, p. 34. The Commission’s actions incl uded the adoption of a Report on 
granting derogation pursuant to Article 19( 2) of the EC Treaty in January 2003 
(COM(2003)31); measures to support the appl ication of Article 13 of the Directive on 
exchanging information to prevent citizens voting more than once and the above-mentioned Communication of April (C OM(2003)174) recommending that new 
Member States should transpose the Direct ive without delay and urging all Member 
States to take the necessary measures to en sure that Union citize ns and nationals of 
new Member States residing in their territory are entered on the electoral rolls for the 2004 elections well beforehand, even before th e official date of accession if needed. 
(23) Directive 94/80/EC laying down detailed arrang ements for the exercise of the right to 
vote and stand as a candidate in municipal el ections for citizens of the Union residing 
in a Member State of which they  are not nationals, OJ L 368, 31.12.1994, p. 38. 
(24) COM(2002)260. 
(25) Annex II.2.D to the Act of Accession, OJ L 236 of 23.9.2003, p. 334. 
(26) With the exception of the UK and Ireland as regards Irish citizens residing in the UK 
and vice versa. 
(27) Decision of the Representatives of the G overnments of the Member States meeting 
within the Council of 18 D ecember 1995 regarding protection for citizens of the 
European Union by diplomatic and c onsular representations. OJ L 314, 28.12.1995, p. 
73. 
(28) OJ L 65, 8.3.2003. 
(29) See Annual Reports 2001, 2002 and 2003 of the European Ombudsman. 
(30) The Code of Good Administrative Behaviour  for the Commission was established by 
Commission Decision 2000/633/CE, CECA, Euratom, OJ L 267, 20.10.2000, annexed 
to the Rules of Procedure. 
(31) OJ C 364, 18.12.2000, p 1. 
(32) See e.g. Article 12(2), 15(2), 39(1), 40, 42, 43, 44, 45(1) and 46. 
(33) SEC(2001)380. 
(34) COM(2003)606. 
 
EN 14   EN (35) Resolution adopted on 20 April 2004 on the Commission communication on Article 7 
of the Treaty on European Union, PE 335.128.  
(36) Conclusions of the Representatives of the Me mber States, meeting at Head of State or 
Government level in Brussels on 13 December 2003. Annex to Presidency 
Conclusions of Brussels European Council of 12 and 13 December 2003. 5381/04, p. 
27.