- citizenship
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cit·i·zen·ship n1: the status of being a citizen2: the quality of an individual's behavior as a citizen3: domicile— used esp. in federal diversity cases see also diversity jurisdiction at jurisdiction
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.
- citizenship
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n.The status of a citizen. See also naturalize
The Essential Law Dictionary. — Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008.
- citizenship
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the legal link between an individual and a state or territory as a result of which the individual is entitled to certain protection, rights and privileges, and subject to certain obligations and allegiance.
Collins dictionary of law. W. J. Stewart. 2001.
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European UnionAnyone who is a national of a member state is a citizen of the European Union.European citizenship was established by the Treaty on European Union (EU Treaty), signed in Maastricht in 1992. In addition to the rights and duties laid down in the Treaty establishing the European Community (EC Treaty, now the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)), EU citizenship confers four special rights:• The freedom to move and take up residence anywhere in the EU.• The right to vote and stand in local government and European Parliament (EP) elections in the country of residence.• Diplomatic and consular protection by the authorities of any member state where the country of which a person is a national is not represented in a non-EU country.• The right of petition and appeal to the European Ombudsman.Following the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam (1999), the status of European citizen also confers the following rights:• The right to address the European institutions in any one of the official languages and to receive a reply written in the same language.• The right to access the documents of the EP, the European Council and the European Commission, subject to certain conditions (Article 15, TFEU (formerly Article 255, EC Treaty)).• The right to non-discrimination between EU citizens on the basis of nationality, gender, race, religion, handicap, age or sexual orientation.• Equal access to the EU's civil service.The introduction of the notion of EU citizenship does not replace national citizenship: it is an addition to it. The Lisbon Treaty introduced the so-called "citizens' initiative". For the first time, one million citizens from different member states are able to directly request that the Commission brings forward an initiative of interest to them in an area of EU competence.The Lisbon Treaty affirmed and developed the concept of EU citizenship, including broadening the right of citizens to approach the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Practical Law Dictionary. Glossary of UK, US and international legal terms. www.practicallaw.com. 2010.
