Citizenship of the Union was introduced by the Maastricht Treaty signed in 1992. Cultural cooperation in the European Union has become a community competency since its inclusion in 1992 in the Maastricht Treaty. ... The European Union has over 457 million inhabitants and currently has 25 member states. ... The European Union (EU) was originally created by the six founding states in 1952, but has grown to its current size of 25 member states. ... Foreign relations of the European Union Foreign relations of Austria Foreign relations of Belgium Foreign relations of Cyprus Foreign relations of the Czech Republic Foreign relations of Denmark Foreign relations of Estonia Foreign relations of Finland Foreign relations of France Foreign relations of Germany Foreign relations of Greece Foreign relations... This is the history of the European Union. ... The European Union or EU is a supranational and intergovernmental union of 25 European states. ... Statistics in the European Union are collected by Eurostat. ... The European Union (EU) is an intergovernmental and supranational union of 25 member states. ... The Maastricht Treaty (formally, the Treaty on European Union) was signed on 7 February 1992 in Maastricht between the members of the European Community and entered into force on 1 November 1993, under the Delors Commission. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

According to Article 17 of the Treaty of Rome (as amended) ^[1], to hold the "Citizenship of the Union" one must first hold the "nationality of a Member State". In the case of Micheletti v Delagacion del Gobierno en Cantabria (C-396/90) [1992] ECR I-4239 ^[2], it was established that "it is for each member state, having due regard to Community law, to lay down the conditions for the acquisition and loss of nationality". According to the same case, dual nationality with only one nationality of a member state is sufficient to fulfill the requirements for "Citizenship of the Union". The Treaty of Rome signing ceremony Signatures in the Treaty The Treaty of Rome refers to the treaty which established the European Economic Community (EEC) and was signed by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg on March 25, 1957. ...

EU citizenship offers certain rights and privileges within the EU; in many areas EU citizens have the same or similar rights as native citizens in member states. Such rights granted to EU citizens include:

• the right of free movement and residence throughout the Union and the right to apply to work in any position (including national civil services with the exception of sensitive positions such as defence) (Article 18 ^[3]),
• the right to vote and the right to stand in local and European elections in any Member State, other than the citizen's own, under the same conditions as the nationals of that state (Article 19 ^[4]),
• the right to protection by the diplomatic or consular authorities of other Member States when in a non-EU Member State, if there are no diplomatic or consular authorities from the citizen's own state (Article 20 ^[5]).

EU member states also use a common passport design, burgundy coloured with the name of the member state, national seal and the title "European Union" (or its translation). A civil servant or public servant is a civilian career public sector employee working for a government department or agency. ... Suffrage is the civil right to vote, or the exercise of that right. ... The title page of European Union member state passports bears the name European Union, then the name of the issuing country, in the official languages of all EU countries. ... Seal on envelope A seal is an impression printed on, embossed upon, or affixed to a document (or any other object) in order to authenticate it, in lieu of or in addition to a signature. ...

Union citizenship continues to gain in status and the European Court of Justice has stated that Union citizenship will be the "fundamental status of nationals of Member States" (see Grzelczyk v Centre Public d'Aide Sociale d'Ottignes-Louvain-la-Neuve Case C-184/99 [2001] ECR I-6193, para 31) ^[6]. The European Commission has affirmed that Union citizenship should be the fundamental status of EU nationals. This is not accepted by many of the national governments. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is formally known as the Court of Justice of the European Communities, i. ... The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive body of the European Union. ...

See also

• Kunqian Catherine Zhu
• Europe for Citizens

Authorities

• ↑  Treaty of Rome (consolidated version): Article 17, Article 18, Article 19 and Article 20
• ↑  Micheletti v Delagacion del Gobierno en Cantabria (Case C-396/90) [1992] ECR I-4239
• ↑  Grzelczyk v Centre Public d'Aide Sociale d'Ottignes-Louvain-la-Neuve (Case C-184/99) [2001] ECR I-6193, para. 31