ABSTRACT
The discussion preceding the establishment of the Maastricht Treaty enables us to distinguish several of the objectives behind the idea of European citizenship. First, Union citizenship was designed to improve the status of nationals resident in a member state other than their own behind the position of privileged aliens. In this context, free movement of persons and economically active persons was a precondition of an effective internal market. For this purpose it was necessary to remove all obstacles and introduce new rights (political rights) which would make the free movement more attractive. As is stated in Article B of the Maastricht Treaty, one of the objectives of the European Union is to ‘strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of the nationals of the member states through the introduction of a citizenship of the Union’. According to the European Parliament’s Imbeni Report
the process of making citizenship of the Union a reality must be understood by citizens of the Member States as a better guarantee that they will effectively enjoy the right to work, a decent standard of living (minimum wages, health care, right to housing etc.) and environmental protection.
