Decision 2012/1093 - Decision 1093/2012/EU on the European Year of Citizens (2013) - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 325/1

The Union is founded on the indivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity and based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. Those principles are fundamental to the Member States in societies in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail. Every citizen of the Union has and should enjoy the rights provided for in the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

The Treaty of Maastricht in 1993 introduced the concept of ‘citizenship of the Union’. The Treaty of Amsterdam in 1999 and the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009 further strengthened the rights associated with Union citizenship. The year 2013 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of citizenship of the Union. Point (12) of Article 1 and point (34) of Article 2 of the Treaty of Lisbon (now Article 9 TEU and Article 20 TFEU) provides that every person holding the nationality of a Member State is a citizen of the Union, that citizenship of the Union is additional to, and does not replace, national citizenship of a Member State and that citizens of the Union enjoy the rights and are subject to the duties provided for in the Treaties. Point (35) of Article 2 of the Treaty of Lisbon (now Article 21 TFEU) enshrines the right of citizens of the Union to free movement and residence.

The Stockholm Programme — An open and secure Europe serving and protecting citizens (3) puts the citizen at the heart of European policies in the field of freedom, security and justice. It focuses its actions on ‧building a citizens’ Europe‧, including through promotion of citizens’ rights, in particular the right of freedom of movement and rights which allow Union citizens to participate actively in the democratic life of the Union.

In its Resolution of 15 December 2010 on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union (2009) - effective implementation after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon (4), the European Parliament called on the Commission to make 2013 the European Year of Citizens in order to give momentum to the debate on Union citizenship, including its terminology, content and scope, and to inform Union citizens of their rights, in particular of the new rights resulting from the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, and of the means available to exercise those rights.

2013 should be designated as the European Year of Citizens. A European Year of Citizens would provide a timely opportunity to raise the awareness of the general public about the rights and responsibilities attached to Union citizenship. The European Year of Citizens should aim also to raise the awareness of citizens about their rights arising from Union citizenship when they exercise their right to move and reside freely in another Member State, for example as students, workers, job-seekers, volunteers, consumers, entrepreneurs, young people or retired persons. In that context awareness-raising should be mainstreamed geographically, demographically...