Summary of European Law 25/26 Leiden University

Europees Recht
Topic: Union Citizenship
The Union Citizenship covers Goods, Persons, Services and
Capital.
What is the Union Citizenship?
 Status (Article 20(1) TFEU
 Derives from the nationality of a Member State
 No further requirements for having this status
 Additional to and does not replacing national
citizenship
 Rights (Article 20(2) TFEU, Articles 21-25 TFEU)
 Right to move and to reside
 Right to vote and to stand as candidate in municipal
and European elections
 Right to enjoy diplomatic and consular protection by
any EU-MS
 Right to address the EU institutions in any Treaty
language and to receive a reply
Status of the Union Citizenship
 Case: CJEU, Case C-135/08, Rottmann
 Austrian national who gained German nationality by
naturalization
o As a result Rottmann lost his Austrian nationality
 German authorities found out that he concealed
serious criminal proceedings against him during the
naturalization process;
o Germany revoked his German nationality
o No other nationality (stateless)
o Loss of Union citizenship
 Can Member States withdraw a nationality, which has
as a consequence to lose the Union citizenship?
o They can, but the withdrawal must be carried out
in the light of EU law
o Union citizenships entails EU law individual rights
which cannot be taken away by a Member State