Almost twenty years after the establishment of EU citizenship and its ionclusion in the Maastricht Treaty, the European Commission has proposed to declare year 2013 as “European Year of Citizens”. This initiative aims to mark one of the major achievements of European integration which has every day a direct effect on the lives of millions of European citizens.

Travelling between European Union countries with less travel costs, hassle-free border crossings, or enjoying the right for consular protection from any Member states diplomatic services when travelling outside the EU, are some of the examples of the benefits of European citizenship. In order to highlight these benefits, the European Commission has proposed to designate 2013 as the "European Year of Citizens".

To mark this celebration a range of national, regional and local events will be organized across the EU promoting European citizenship. Commission will also strengthen the visibility of the multilingual Europe Direct and Your Europe web portals, which are one of the main gateways for citizens to solve any question or problem regarding their rights, as well as SOLVIT which allows them to better make use of and defend their rights.

Objectives of the European Year of Citizens

The aim of the European Year of Citizens is to facilitate Union citizens' exercising their right to move and reside freely within the EU by ensuring they can easily access information about their rights. More specifically, the aim of the Year is to:

• Raise citizens' awareness of their right to reside freely within the European Union
• Raise citizens' awareness of how they can benefit from EU rights and policies and to stimulate their active participation in Union policy-making
• Stimulate debate about the impact and potential of the right to free movement, in particular in terms of strengthening cohesion and people's mutual understanding of one another

With this initiative, the Commission is fulfilling one of the actions proposed in the EU Citizenship Report 2010, which revealed that many barriers still prevent EU citizens exercising their rights as such. The celebration of this Year aims to increase awareness among citizens about what these rights mean in their daily life.