The European Citizenship - a Common Identity for Us

The concept of citizenship of the European Union, introduced by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992, added a new political dimension to the hitherto primarily economic nature of European integration. Every person holding the nationality of an EU Member State is now also automatically a citizen of the European Union. EU citizenship does not replace national citizenship. Instead, it confers upon all EU citizens an additional set of rights, guaranteed by the EU Treaties, which lie at the heart of their everyday lives.
On the eve of the conclusion of the 20th anniversary of the introduction of EU Citizenship with the European Year of Citizens, each of us who are taking advantage of the European project by extending aspects of our life beyond national borders, through travel, study, work, marriage, retirement, buying or inheriting property, voting, or just shopping online from companies established in other Member States, should fully enjoy our rights under the Treaties. However, a gap still remains between the applicable legal rules and the reality confronting citizens in their daily lives, particularly in cross-border situations. EU citizens still face numerous obstacles when they try to source goods and services across national borders.
Taking into account these facts, with the current project we will try to define the role of the youngsters in this process. The participants in the project will share their thoughts, views and experience on the topic, directly contributing to addressing the challenges and outlining the opportunities in front of the European Citizenship. Our goal is to get a bigger view on the issue and find common solutions, implementable on European level. The project’s main objectives are to look at the obstacles that the EU citizens still encounter in their daily lives when exercising their EU rights, notably their right to free movement and their political rights and others; to discuss solutions to remove these obstacles; to raise the awareness of the meaning of the EU citizenship.
The activities will be carried out from 23.09.2013 to 02.10.2013 (excluding travel) in a complex, situated near the Rila Mountains, Bulgaria. The area is one of the most beautiful parts of Bulgaria, very rich with interesting places to visit and amazing scenery!
For further information contact us at office@onprs.eu.