Citizenship Directive Amendment

Artefact 1
Title: Citizenship Directive
Commission Portfolio: Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.
Commissioner: Tibor Navracsics
Background: European Commission portfolio is referred to the area of responsibility which
is assigned to a European Commissioner, and usually, this responsibility is connected to one
or several Directorates-General (DGs). The portfolio of Tibor Navracsics is responsible for
providing policies in the field of education and training, civil society, transplant, sports,
youth, interpretation, and relations between the offices of the official publication of the
European Communities (Europa, 2014).
Rationale:
(1) Article 45 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights recognises the right of citizens to
move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States (Lewik, n.d.).
(2) This freedom is granted in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty establishing
the European Community.
(3) The Union also focuses on addressing discrimination issues relating to sex, race,
religion, ethnic, gender or age.
(4) It is also recognised that all union citizens have the right to receive equal treatment
within the Member States (Directives 2004/38/EC).
An obligation is imposed on the Member States to ensure that they protect the human
rights of citizens and uphold them to ensure that all citizens must receive equal treatment in
the Member States. Article 52 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights provides that any
limitation which is imposed by the law in respect of prohibiting the rights and freedom
citizens which result in failing to comply with the EU legislation will be considered as void
(Europa, n.d.). The right of citizens in the European Economic Area (EEA) in order to move
freely is recognised pursuant to Citizenship Directives 2004/38/EC. The provisions regarding
rights of unmarried couples which are citizen of EEA to move freely in the EEA are also given
under the Citizenship Directives 2004/38/EC (Guild, Peers & Tomkin, 2014). The free
movement right of a person is referred as Directives 2004/38/EC of the fundamental
freedoms which are available for citizens in the internal market. Moreover, prohibitions are
imposed on discrimination while providing employment based on the Employment Equality
Framework Directive to prohibit discrimination at the place of employment.
Although these policies recognise the rights of all citizens freedom; however, the
Member States have failed to protect the rights of LGBT community in the EU, especially
when it comes to recognition of family rights of same-sex marriages. The LGBT rights are
protected under EU treaties and law; however, only 12 out of 28 EU states has legalised it.
These policies contradict with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of individuals since
discrimination is faced by members of the LGBT community because they did not enjoy the

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right of freedom to freely move and reside after their marriage (Europarl, 2016). The key
reason for this problem is that all Member States have not recognised the LGBT rights and
same-sex marriage rights which create contradictions with the fundamental rights of
citizens.
As the Commissioner, Tibor Navracsics has the responsibility to work with the
Member States in order to modernise the education system in Europe and enable people to
work and support economic growth. It is also his responsibility to create opportunities for
young people which will allow them to participate in civic and democratic life (Europa,
2014). Another key responsibility is promoting cultural diversity and helping people to
support and protect their cultural heritage. Most of the members of the LGBT community
are youth, and their rights are not recognised under the EU laws relating to marriage which
contradicts with the role of Tibor Navracsics as a commission. He should work with the
Member States to implement laws that recognise same-sex marriage in the EU. A good
example is the failure of the EU to mention mutual recognition of same-sex marriage across
the EU borders as a priority for its 2010-2014 Stockholm Programme (LGBT-EP, 2010). Due
to the lack of mutual recognition of the rights of the members of the LGBT community, it
becomes difficult for same-sex married couples to move freely across the Member States
without violation of their fundamental rights. Although the EU laws cannot impose the
same-sex marriage regulations on all Member States or enforce them to recognise the
same-sex marriages; however, obligations can be imposed to treat those couples similar to
opposite-sex couples based on their fundamental rights recognised in the Charter of
Fundamental Rights.
It is recommended that amendments should be made in the Citizenship Directives
2004/38/EC to provide a common definition of the same-sex married couples with an
objective to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Other Member States must
recognise the marriage of same-sex couples once it is registered in the Member States and
they should not treat them differently. This registration of same-sex marriage should be
valid in those Member States who have not recognised the right of same-sex marriage.
Same-Sex couples should not receive discrimination or prejudice based on their sexual
orientation (Ayoub, 2015). Based on the implementation of these policies, the
discrimination against the members of the LGBT community will end, and they will be able
to move freely across the territories of Member States without facing any discrimination.
Tibor Navracsics plays a key role in the introduction and implementation of these principles
by working together with the Member States to change the current policies. Defining the
key terms and rights of citizens will also assist in the implementation of these amendments
without imposing too much burden on the Member States to change their laws and enforce
policies. These new directives should be implemented by the end of 2019.

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Artefact 2
The New Europeans Lobbying Strategy
Deliberation for long-term issue manipulation and agenda setting
The New Europeans is a civil right movement, which advocates for the freedom of
movement, anti-discrimination of migrants and the guiding principle of a more united
Europe. The organization was set up based on the experience of mobile citizens who found
a home in another European union member state but regularly face unjust and different
treatment despite their EU citizens rights (Civil Right Defenders, 2019). The responsibilities
of the New Europeans are said to be Campaigning for the civil rights and empowerment of
mobile EU citizens, migrants and refugees, Publications aimed at empowering mobile EU
citizens, migrants and refugees, Advocacy through the institutions of the European Union,
including the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Commission, the
European Parliament, and national parliament's Scrutiny Committees, Partnerships with
organisations that share our core values and support our mission (Stanford Lawyer, 2016).
A report on the amendment of Article 5.1 states “without prejudice to the provisions on
travel documents applicable to national border controls, Member states shall grant union
citizens leave to enter their territory with a valid identity card (or passport) and shall grant
family who are not nationals of a member state leave to enter their territory with a valid
passport”.
In order to be able to support and preserve the right of freedom of movement
among EU member states in long term, collaboration with New Europeans and similar
organization is a necessity. European Movement International is a lobbying association
group with goal of promoting European integration. Working together, The New Europeans
will be able to highlight any issue according to the freedom of movement and to send our
experts for framing the issue at high level (EC). Our alliances with influencing formal vector
can have the chance of efficient achievement to overarching authority of EU (European
Parliament, 2015). The new Europeans would advocate for the Amendment of the Article
5.1 of the citizenship directive in which a lobbying strategy to implement the Movement of
all EU citizens with a means of an identity card is presented.
Clarification of Constitutional Framework
Article 5 Directive 2004/38/EC indicates a long running legal precedent on the Eu’s
regulation of freedom of movement and the right of citizens of the union and their family
members to move and freely reside within the territory of member states (European Union
Movement, 2015). The European Commission creates legislation, which is subject to
rejection, amendment or approval by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament,
the latter depending on the policy area. Some amendments to the ‘right of citizens and
freedom of movement’ legislative proposal was made by the European Parliament
(European Commission.)
Institutions Involved
The European commission is the main institution in regards this lobbying strategy, as
the New Europeans can bring their influence on it and demand a review of the law. Other

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institutions been lobbied through advocacy by the New Europeans include the European
Economic and Social Committee, the European Parliament, and National Parliament's
Scrutiny Committees (European Commission, 2018).
Proposed Networks and Alliances
The New Europeans today has various branches among various EU member states
with the vision of having a branch in every EU member state. The New Europeans is a strong
platform to partner with various organizations that share their values and have a similar
mission in the free movement of Eu citizens and refugees. Also, the New Europeans
networks with the New Europeans Newspaper Agency to publicly empower Eu citizens,
migrants and refugees (Angelos, 2016). It would also be advisable to corporate with the
various branches in Europe to gain public support. There are various branches which have
been set up in 4 regions which includes Britain Ireland (England, Ireland and Scotland), The
Atlantic (Brussels, Belgium), Central Europe (Strasbourg, France), Mediterranean region
(Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and the islands of Cyprus and Malta. The
New Europeans should also network with NGOs that share their core value such as the
European Movement etc....
Consideration of Public Opinion and Support
As important as the New Europeans influence in decision making in the EU is said to
be, The New Europeans would lean on Public opinion and support as it is seen to be as very
vital to support the free movement strategy in Europe. The NE looks forward to the future
generation (Youths) in different member states of the EU in supporting their campaign
(Durach, 2016). The various branches could attract people in different member states in
supporting the movement Mass Media coverage is also vital as the New Europeans publish
articles on The New European Media platforms (Newspapers and online publications). The
use of social media is also used. As the New Europeans have a large crowd on social media
platforms such as twitter (50700 followers) to gain public opinion and support .
Strategies
For our goals to be achieved, The Defensive Strategy is the most suitable plan of
action to be adopted for the amendment of artilce5.1. We believe that as European Citizens,
one must have the right of free movement with the lowest control by host member State.
We support that it is not necessary, as European Citizens, to have a passport as the main
form of Identification. This must be irrelevant whether you are a permanent resident or not
(you must be able to reside only with your National ID).
Methods
The New Europeans would primarily make use of direct methods. In this cause a
petition would be given to the public through the various branches in Europe to support the
amendment of Article 5.1. A number would be aimed for, if the petition reaches the goal
then it means the New Europeans are on the right track.