1. EU citizens abroad must be given same consular protection than their own nationals

    published on Thursday, September 20, 2012 under Citizens

    Civil Liberties Committee in the European Parliament called on the EU delegations to have a key role in strengthening protection for EU nationals in non-EU countries in its adopted position on proposed new rules aimed at strengthening consular protection abroad, which is one of the key rights conferred by EU citizenship. MEPs also called on EU member states to give any EU citizen seeking help abroad the same consular protection that they give their own nationals.

    In the adopted position on new consular rules, MEPs say that any EU citizen in difficulty abroad, for example after suffering an accident, violence or robbery, or caught up in a crisis situation, should be free to seek assistance from the embassy or consulate of any other EU member state or, where appropriate, from the EU delegation, if their own country is not represented. New European passports includes information on consular help since 2011.

    MEPs highlighted that the diplomatic and consular services of all EU member states must give any EU citizen seeking help abroad the same protection that they give their own nationals. The protection offered by embassies and consulates is an expression of EU solidarity and of the identity of the Union in third countries, as well as being a practical benefit of EU citizenship. However, this principle is not yet fully applied in practice, leading sometimes to situations where unrepresented citizens can be in a more vulnerable situation in non-EU countries than those that do have representation.

    The committee also calls in its non-binding amendments for EU delegations (run by the European External Action Service) in non-EU countries to be responsible for ensuring cooperation and coordination among member states, including the division of tasks to ensure that unrepresented citizens are fully assisted in a crisis. Where relevant, EU delegations should be entrusted with consular tasks, according to MEPs. They should also be allowed to conclude local arrangements with member states' representations on burden sharing and exchanges of information.

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