“EU citizenship was described, 20 years ago, by some as a meaningless public relations exercise but by others as a significant change. Discuss with reference to case law, the accuracy of each view.”

For some, the Maastricht Treaty did not go far enough, but for other went too far as was the case regarding Luxembourg where a phase-in period for voting rights were obtained, and publics in France and Denmark where citizenship was a major issue. Subsequent to the Maastricht Treaty, the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997 introduced only minor additions to citizens rights and it was stated that European citizenship should remain supplement to and not replace national citizenship as mentioned previously. The reason for this phase-in was due to fear of massive immigration from Spain and Portugal but, however, in contravention explains their support for EU citizenship.

On amendment of the Treaty of Rome, the Maastricht Treaty granted 4 sets of rights to all EU citizens such as free movement rights and political rights. Major negotiations made after were at the Nice summit in December 200…(short extract)