§ Mr. Austin Mitchell:To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs under which Act of Parliament citizens of the United Kingdom became citizens of the European Union; and on what electoral mandate. [141204]
§ Mr. Leslie:Article 17 of the Treaty Establishing the European Community, as amended by the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty) and by the Treaty of Amsterdam, provides that any person holding the nationality of a member state is also a citizen of the European Union. The amended Treaty is given effect in the United Kingdom by the European Communities Act 1972.