About: citizenship

Europe’s ‘golden visa’ schemes open doors for criminals, report finds

With its cash-for-passport practices, Europe has opened its door to the criminal and corrupt, with some member states running a lucrative industry of trading citizenship for money, said a new report by Transparency International and Global Witness.

Redefining the elements for successful integration

Migration is here to stay. Acknowledging voting rights and political participation of migrants are necessary aspects of a democratic society, writes Yves Leterme.  

Expert: The EU political agenda must be set by ordinary citizens

Arguing for an alternative vision of European cooperation, political scientist Richard Youngs told EURACTIV that an EU rethink must include new voices and involve a fully participative process of consultation, in line with what French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed in recent months. In his new book he shows how that can be achieved.

UK minister: EU proposed ‘restricted’ rights for Brits living in EU after Brexit

Brexit minister David Davis said on Wednesday (9 August) that the EU proposed that Britons living in the bloc after Brexit will only have the right to stay in the country where they are resident when Britain leaves.

Paris 2024 is a bet on Europe

On Tuesday 6 June, a delegation for the Paris bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be received by the European Parliament in its assembly. It is a big opportunity for Paris, and also for the European Union, writes Julian Jappert.

Lithuania rushes to keep citizens as Brexit looms

As Brexit puts a question mark over the rights of EU nationals in Britain, Lithuania is rushing to let its citizens keep their Baltic passports if they opt to become British.

EPP official: UK shouldn’t ‘use’ citizenship to put pressure on Brexit talks

The EU suspects that the UK will play political games in the Brexit negotiations on the issue of citizenship due to the bloc's perceived strong interest in the matter, a European People’s Party (EPP) official revealed. EURACTIV.com reports from Malta.

Britons eye ancestry, love to secure post-Brexit rights

From looking up their European ancestry to seeking out a continental soulmate, some Britons are leaving no stone unturned in their bid to keep ties with Europe after the nation's vote to leave the union.

May to thrash out Brexit roadmap in Berlin, Paris talks

British Prime Minister Theresa May is heading to Berlin on Wednesday and Paris on Thursday (21 July) to start thrashing out the roadmap for Britain's departure from the EU.

Citizenship by investment: Reflections from Malta one year later

It is now one year since Malta first announced its intention to offer citizenship through investment, and more than six months since the Individual Investor Programme went live. At the time, the idea of the programme caused uproar in some circles, but now that things are underway, what is actually happening?

Maltese EU citizenship sale angers MEPs

Malta’s decision to sell passports, hence European citizenship, for €650,000 to non-EU residents, without any prerequisite whatsoever, not even residence in Malta, has angered MEPs, who debated the issue Wednesday (15 January).

EU kicks off European Year of Citizens

The European Commission has named 2013 "European Year of Citizens" to raise awareness about Union citizens' rights in shaping the future of Europe.

Mayday marks freedom of movement

As of 1 May 2011, citizens of the countries that joined the European Union in 2004 will finally have the right to live and work in all the bloc's member states. László Andor, the EU's employment commissioner, explains why workers' mobility is part of the solution to Europe's unemployment problem.

Solidarity in a pluralist age

Societies will only hold together through dialogue and openness, writes Charles Taylor, professor emeritus of philosophy at McGill University in Montréal and permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna.

Communicating Europe begins at home, says Reding

The EU's commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, Viviane Reding, reassured her staff that the European Commission will remain in the driving seat in communicating Europe but not without citizens, sources told EURACTIV after an in-house presentation on Friday (12 February).

Report reveals EU citizens’ daily frustrations

Two weeks after the Irish voiced their discontent with the EU in a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, MEP Alain Lamassoure presented French President Nicolas Sarkozy with a detailed report on Thursday (26 June), providing an in-depth study of the byzantine obstacles Europeans face when it comes to asserting their rights in another EU country.

MEPs want larger ‘European dimension’ in national education programmes

Parliament's education and culture committee highlights the importance of including EU-10 issues in the national education programmes of the EU-15, to offset any lack of information due to decades of post-war division.

Top priority for EU is jobs, say young Europeans

Fighting unemployment and the fear of losing jobs to other EU countries are two of young EU citizens' chief concerns as European youth takes centre stage during European Youth Week.

Spanish fear language downgrade in Commission translation reshuffle

The Spanish are unhappy at a 25% cut in the number of their Commission translators from 2007, leaving them roughly on a par with Maltese. The Commission gives an insight into why.

Study on citizenship in schools: EU covered in curricula of two thirds of countries

According to a study on pan-European citizenship education in European schools, two thirds of countries have schools with strong coverage of EU integration and its institutions.