EIRP Proceedings, Vol 6 (2011)

Abstract

Being nationals of a Member State, such as Romania, we all are citizens of the European Union. But, is being European citizens important for us? Does it change in any way our regular life? At European level, the usual remark is that “the importance of citizenship of the Union lies in the fact that the citizens of the Union have genuine rights under Community law.” In other words, this is as much as saying that the importance of citizenship lies in its consequences. But the content given to European Citizenship will be absolutely relevant to understand its meaning and though its importance: if rights conferred by citizenship were, for example, insignificant, what would be the added value of being European citizen? So, starting from the article 20.2 of the Consolidated Version of the T.F.U.E. (ex Article 17 TEC) “Citizens of the Union shall enjoy the rights and be subject to the duties provided for in the Treaties”, we shall focus the presentation on the EU core rights. Our scientific argumentation will follow the next steps: The notion of citizenship: An introduction; Citizenship vs. nationality; Meaning and importance of EU citizenship; From national citizenship to European citizenship; more European with EU citizenship.