mr president it is my pleasure to present the report on the problems and perspectives concerning european citizenship which was adopted unanimously by the committee on civil liberties justice and home affairs libe last month
european citizenship does not replace national citizenship
it is an added bonus giving eu citizens unique rights notably the right to the freedom of movement the right to consular protection and the right to petition parliament and the european ombudsman
parliament's report takes into consideration the commission's fifth report on european citizenship covering the period from one may two thousand and four to thirty june two thousand and seven
this is a unique period
five years ago on one may two thousand and four ten new member states joined the european union
the result of that accession especially of states from central and eastern europe was a hitherto unseen scale of inter-union migration
the new citizens of the european union embraced the rights granted to them especially the right to free movement
they benefited from the opportunity to be educated abroad and in those countries which opened their labour markets they undertook legal work
the scale of migration however poses many challenges for the host countries
these are challenges for both the central and local authorities
local authorities particularly where they are responsible for the provision of services such as housing health care and primary and secondary education are often confronted with the day-to-day problems of the new immigrants
much has been done to aid integration as well as to help newcomers benefit from the same rights as citizens of their host countries
nevertheless instances of discrimination remain
sometimes these are the result of legal loopholes and sometimes the result of a lack of knowledge of how to apply the law
the libe committee took a very constructive and practical approach in its work
there was cross-party agreement that our priority was to highlight the problem areas and undertake steps to remedy them by providing central and local government in member states with the necessary resources and support
our primary concern was that the individual citizen should not be hindered in any way from benefiting from his or her rights
the second right i mentioned that of consular protection is still unfortunately poorly applied
this fact was brought starkly to our attention when our own colleagues found themselves in a dramatic situation during the terrorist attacks in mumbai
if meps had problems exercising their right to consular protection in such an extreme situation what chance does the average citizen have in more mundane circumstances
increasing citizens awareness of their rights was a key issue raised throughout the report and a number of measures are suggested for greater awareness building
if only thirty-one of citizens consider themselves to be well-informed about their rights we still have a lot to do
i trust the commission will take into account parliament's recommendations and will report back in its sixth report on the concrete progress made
finally i would like to thank my shadow rapporteurs the staff of the political groups and the libe committee secretariat for their hard work
a special word of thanks goes to all those who participated in the public hearing on the report especially the representatives of the ngos
it is fitting that in a report on citizenship the citizen's voice via the ngos was heeded in drawing up the final report
