Activities of Csaba SÓGOR related to 2018/2111(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on implementation of the Treaty provisions related to EU citizenship
Amendments (29)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. having regard to the Commission communication of 31 January 2017 entitled ‘Strengthening Citizens’ Rights in a Union of Democratic Change – EU Citizenship Report 2017’(COM(2017)0030),
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital –A a (new)
Recital –A a (new)
-A a. having regard to its resolution on the EU Citizenship Report 2017: Strengthening Citizens’ Rights in a Union of Democratic Change (2017/2069(INI)),
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Recital –A b (new)
Recital –A b (new)
-A b. having regard to Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States,
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Recital –A c (new)
Recital –A c (new)
-A c. having regard to the conclusions of the Council of the European Union Nos. 9166/3/11 and 9167/3/11 of 9 June 2011 on the conclusion of the evaluation process and the technical readiness of Bulgaria and Romania to accede to the Schengen area,
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Recital –A d (new)
Recital –A d (new)
-A d. having regard to the notification given by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to the European Council on 29 March 2017 in accordance with Article 50(2) TEU,
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Recital –A e (new)
Recital –A e (new)
-A e. having regard to its Resolution on minimum standards for minorities in the EU(2018/2036(INI)),
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Recital –A f (new)
Recital –A f (new)
-A f. having regard to its resolution of 7 February 2018 on protection and non- discrimination with regard to minorities in the EU Member States,
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas, in accordance with Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the European Union is founded on respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights; whereas the principle of representative democracy, accountability and transparency is a fundamental pillar of the European Parliament;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas European citizens are protected from discrimination by the Charter of Fundamental Rights that coverthe Charter of Fundamental Rights brings together all the personal, civic, political, economic and social rights enjoyed by people within the EU; Whereas the Charter aims to protect European citizens from discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnicity, or social origin, genetic features, language, religion, or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age andor sexual orientation;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas EU citizenship of the Union is gained through nationality of a Member State, and clearly supplements national citizenship; whereas it ins accordance with Article 9 of the TEU; whereas European citizenship does not, and cannot, superseddditional to and does not replace national citizenship;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas EU case law permits member states to withhold EU citizenship from their nationals or to maintain a graduated system of EU citizenship rights whereby some of their nationals enjoy more of EU citizenship-related rights than others;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
C b. whereas the Treaty of Lisbon brought great advances for the citizens of the Union by consolidating the rights and safeguards of EU citizenship, endowing the Charter of Fundamental Rights with legal value and bringing the area of freedom, security and justice into the EU’s legislative field;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
C c. whereas the right to equal treatment is one of the founding principles of the European Union and a fundamental right of all people; whereas, when laying down the citizenship of the Union, Article 9 TEU expressly mentions that the Union shall observe the principle of the equality of its citizens, who shall receive equal attention from its institutions, bodies, offices and agencies;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Recital C d (new)
Recital C d (new)
C d. whereas approximately 8 % of EU citizens belong to a national minority and approximately 10 % speak a regional or minority language; whereas the EU has still not developed a common EU legal framework to guarantee their rights as members of a minority or to sanction the curtailing of their rights in Member States;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Recital C e (new)
Recital C e (new)
C e. whereas, according to the Commission’s 2017 EU Citizenship Report, since 2012 a growing number of people have reported experiencing some form of discrimination;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Recital C f (new)
Recital C f (new)
C f. whereas free movement is one of the four fundamental freedoms of the EU, a cornerstone of European integration, and one of the most valued rights of EU citizens; whereas the right to free movement and its exercise is central to EU citizenship; whereas EU citizens may still experience a number of persisting or new barriers to exercising their free movement and residence rights, such as excessive documentation requirements, burdensome procedures for obtaining residence rights, difficulties in accessing health services, or lengthy procedures for obtaining access to work or having professional qualifications recognised; whereas some European citizens have been subjected to expulsions or expulsion orders within the EU;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Recital C g (new)
Recital C g (new)
C g. whereas the creation of the Schengen area and the integration of the Schengen acquis into the EU framework greatly enhances freedom of movement within the EU and is one of the greatest achievements of the European integration process; whereas the Council of the European Union, in its conclusions Nos. 9166/3/11 and9167/3/11 of 9 June 2011, confirmed the successful conclusion of the evaluation process and the technical readiness of Bulgaria and Romania to accede to the Schengen area;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the European citizParliament is the only directly-elected EU institution; whereas it defends are directly represented in the European Parliament andthe interests of EU citizens in the EU decision-making process; whereas the principles of representative democracy, accountability and transparency are fundamental pillars of the European Parliament; whereas European citizens have a democratic right to stand and vote in European elections, even when residing in another territory;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas the risk of disenfranchisement of nationals who move from their countries of origin to another Member State may inhibit EU citizens from exercising their right to move to and reside in another Member State;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
D b. whereas some of the most important consequences of the expected withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union concerns the legal status, rights and duties of UK nationals living in the European Union, and of EU citizens living in the United Kingdom, from the moment the withdrawal takes effect; whereas millions of citizens who have availed themselves of the right to live, establish a family, work, study and retire in the UK and in the EU 27, and have made defining life choices based on these rights, now face great uncertainties and anxiety regarding their future;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
D c. whereas Northern Ireland is the part of the UK most distinctly affected by Brexit; whereas the introduction of a ‘hard border’ with the Republic of Ireland is a particular concern affecting free movement and EU citizenship rights;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Emphasizes that autochthonous national, ethnic or linguistic minority communities represent a special contribution to European diversity and culture; reminds that preserving and promoting cultural and linguistic diversity within and between Member States is a fundamental value and at the same time a major task of the European Union;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Points out that Union citizens are not sufficiently aware of their rights deriving from citizenship of the Union, including the right to vote in European and local elections or to receive consular protection from other Member States’ embassies; Considers that the EU should raise awareness to these rights and should promote the participation of citizens exercising their rights to freedom of movement in local and Union elections;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Calls on the Commission to regularly monitor the application of Directive 2004/38/EC in Member States and to take appropriate measures to remove potential obstacles to the freedom of movement;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Calls on the Council of the EU and the European Council to allow all countries that fulfil the necessary technical criteria to become members of the Schengen area, thereby allowing all EU citizens to enjoy freedom of movement unhindered by border-checks;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2 c. Recalls that while the right to be able to vote in elections is the most important of political participation rights it is also intrinsically linked to the right of free movement in the European project, a fact exposed in the Brexit referendum, in which more than 700 thousand British expat citizens who exercised their right to free movement were notentitled to vote; Stresses that citizens who move to and reside in another Member State should have the possibility to exercise their right tovote in the national elections of their country of origin; calls on MemberStates that disenfranchise nationals who choose to live for an extended periodof time in another Member State to ease the conditions for these nationals and preservetheir right to vote in national elections;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that almost 7 million EU citizens currently live in countries outside the EU, and that this number is expected to increase to at least 10 million by 2020. Calls for the full and effective implementation of Directive (EU) 2015/637 to ensure consular protection for EU citizens in third countries where their Member States are not represented;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. IConsists that the Member Staders that in order to give substance to the references to minorities and to the equality of all EU citizens made in Articles 2 and 9 TEU, respectively, and in order to bettesr recognise language discrimination as a violation of Article 2 of the TEU; calls on the Fundamental Rights Agency to start dealing with anti-regional or minority language discriminationach the potential of EU citizenship, the EU should take steps to guarantee the protection of the founding values of the EU and of the rights of minorities; reiterates the need for a comprehensive European Union protection system for autochthonous national, ethnic and linguistic minorities by incorporating existing international law instruments and following proven best practices in the EU; considers that such a framework should have its own high standards and be accompanied by a robust monitoring mechanism; calls on the Fundamental Rights Agency to start carrying out enhanced monitoring of discrimination against autochthonous national and ethnic minorities in its work programme;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. CallsStresses that the safeguarding onf the UK Government to ensure that the rights of EU citizens living in the UK are protected post-Brexit, an entitlement they possess under the Treaties.rights and interests of EU-27citizens living or having lived in the United Kingdom, and of United Kingdom citizens living or having lived in the EU-27, must be treated as an absolute priority in the negotiations on the UK's withdrawal agreement; Is extremely concerned about the current state of negotiations on the UK leaving the EU and about the disastrous consequences a no-deal scenario would have on the lives of over five million people; Calls on the UK Government and on EU institutions and Member States to ensure that the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and the lives of UK citizens living in the EU are protected post-Brexit;