§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of the impact on British subjects of the legal status and definition of EU citizenship; [143585]
(2) what recent representations he has received concerning the legal status and definition of EU citizenship. [143584]
§ Mrs. RocheWe are aware of having received two letters on this subject.
Article 17 of the Treaty establishing the European Community makes it clear that European Union citizenship complements, but does not replace, national citizenship.
Subject to the conditions set out in the Treaty, citizenship of the European Union confers four special rights on nationals of the member states:
221Wfreedom to move and take up residence anywhere in the Union;the right to vote and stand in local government and European Parliament elections in the country of residence;diplomatic and consular protection from the authorities of any member state where the country of which a person is a national is not represented in a non-Union country; andthe right of petition and appeal to the European Parliament and Ombudsman.The United Kingdom first declared in 1971, and repeated in 1982, that only those British nationals holding right of abode in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar were to be regarded as holding British nationality for European Union purposes.