Press Release: European Commission puts citizenship at the heart of justice and social affairs policies

European Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding, the EU’s Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Commissioner, has called on Member States to put citizens at the heart of justice and social affairs policies. For the first time, on 3 December 2010 Vice-President Reding presented the EU Citizenship Report to Justice Ministers. The report will also be on the agenda of the Social Affairs Ministers’ meeting on 6 December.

As Commission President José Manuel Barroso said in his political guidelines in September 2009, the EU wants "a Europe that puts people at the heart of the agenda". This vision is reflected in the Lisbon Treaty in which citizens are at the heart of EU policies. The EU is taking concrete action to make it easier for the 12 million EU citizens who live outside of their home countries. The Commission, which adopted the Citizenship Report on 27 October 2010, proposed measures to make peoples’ lives easier when they exercise their EU rights to get married, buy a house or register a car in another EU country.