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CHARTER ON A COMMITMENT TO ENSURING FREE M OVEMENT OF PERSONS / MIGRANTS

WITHIN THE EU

This charter reflects the commitment of civil society organizations (CSOs) providing advice and assistance to

migrants / persons on the move in the Union to:

1. Provide advice and assistance to migrants and work towards breaking down national barriers tofree movement of persons within the EU

2. Contribute to a European network of migrant advisors with an online forum

“The right of the European citizen to move freely throughout the territory of the EU is the clearest and most important demonstration that the EU Treaties are ultimately concerned with individual freedom. But there is agap between the fine principles of the Treaties as interpreted by the European Court of Justice and what 

actually happens on the ground.”1

European law and values

The European Union now offers an increasingly coherent set of European rights and values however thereis no clear organisation of the information, advice and problem solving mechanisms which provide

information on these European rights. The following Treaty rights, legislation and guidelines provide rights

of citizenship and free movement of persons and must be upheld by the Member States:

The Charter of Fundamental Rights has become legally binding with the entry into force of the Lisbon

Treaty and both reaffirm the European rights and sets them in a wider context within the Universal Human

Rights.

The case law of the European Court of Justice on articles 21 “citizenship of the Union” and 18 “equal

treatment” is codified in directive 2004/38/EC on the right of citizens of the Union and their family

members “to move freely within the territory of the Member States.”

The Europe for Citizens’ Programme has provided funding for this exchange and mentoring

programme. It has developed through partnership between the Commission and CSOs, a sense of European

values and ways to defend and promote them through volunteering and other forms of active European

citizenship.2

The recent “EU citizenship report 2010-–Dismantling the obstacles to EU citizen’s rights” identifies

what are considered to be the 25 most significant obstacles and proposes 25 actions to improve the daily life

of EU citizens.

How can citizen’s advisors aim to break down the barriers?

Whilst citizens’ advisors belong to very different organisational structures across the Union, they share common

values and objectives. By committing to upholding these objectives we can work together to break down the

barriers to free movement.

1 Preface by Professor Sir David Edward Judge of the European Court of Justice 1992 – 2004 to “Mind the Gap: towards a

better enforcement of European Citizens’ rights of free movement” ECAS December 20042 Europe for citizens programme 2007-2013 – horizontal features pages 8-10

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• Every citizen has a right to be informed of his or her rights and to independent, objective and

confidential advice. Such free legal aid and advice can overcome barriers to the exercise of citizen’s

rights and is a first step out of social exclusion. Advice needs to be backed by better enforcement of 

European and national law, independent appeals mechanisms and speedier, more affordable access to

justice.

• All persons on the move whether they are citizens from an EU Member States or third country nationals

have equal rights to be treated with dignity and to access to justice regardless of income, social, ethnic,

religious or other differences. The gap between the rights of the legally resident third country nationalsand the nationals from an EU Member State which is narrowing should disappear.

• Migration is largely a win-win situation for the individual, the host country and the country of origin.

The main focus of policy makers and legislators should therefore be on migrant communities whichmost need support and working to integrate those migrants into the community. Migrant advisors

should work towards social inclusion of all migrants throughout the member states.

A European migrant advisors network 

The Flow Chart project was a great success and highlighted the need for enhanced communication between

advisors in different member states on a wider scale.

The network will have the following aims:

1. To be an online social network which will provide for general exchange where advisors can ask 

questions and receive replies from other advisors relating to specific cases or developments in

European law and policy. In order to overcome obstacles to the free movement of persons as increased

knowledge of the tax and social security systems of both the host country and the country of origin is

usually required in problem solving and this requires communication between advisors. To protect the

confidentiality of the issues under discussion, and allow people to communicate freely the network 

should be a closed network.

2. Face-to-face discussion and communication among advisors has to be encouraged. The “Flow Chart”

project has shown that many advice services are recruiting volunteers or staff from the communities of 

intra-EU migration. This can usefully be supplemented by exchanges allowing advisors in the country

of origin to find out more about living and working conditions in the country of destination and

enhance their cultural understanding.

3. To map out the availability of information, advice and problem-solving services in European rights

across the Union and provide links to these services. This would allow for an evaluation of the advice

services available. It would then make it easier to identify where the gaps in advice services are and

also where there is overlapping and a need for synergy. It will also encourage an expansion of network.

The network, once it has started to exchange queries and best practice will develop cooperation:

• To support the help-desk on European citizens’ rights being created for the European civil

society house. This new facility will encourage citizens to communicate with each other and group

together their complaints or request across borders to give them greater weight with the EU Institutions.

• To work with other intra-EU and European citizenship stakeholders for the preparation of the

year of citizenship in 2013.

• To contribute with evidence and best practice from the national and local level to the one-stop

shop. This final objective involves supporting the efforts of the European Institutions to create a

European one-stop shop for information and advice to European citizens around the ABC concept.

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A – stands for assistance to migrants in one service or location. Particularly for vulnerable migrants, it helps

to find a full answer in one place, rather than being moved on constantly from one service to another. How to

bring services together without discouraging specialization? For front line assistance to the EU’s most

vulnerable European citizens, the one-stop shop is generally civil society, but it cannot act alone.

B – stands for building bridges to other services. Above all, the one-stop shop often reveals an inability and

unwillingness of the mainstream public services to cater for vulnerable EU migrants. Local government social

housing services, the health service, have to be drawn into the process. Partnership between a wide range of actors is the solution particularly in response to phenomena of rapid social change of which in our societies

migration is one of the most significant.

C – stands for cooperation among different mobility stakeholders across Europe. 80% of problems could be

solved if people were better prepared for what to expect in the host country before they leave. The need has

been identified to link services in the country of origin with those for integration in the host country and finallyto assist with the return of migrant workers. Intra-EU migration is a changing process is short-term (a few

years) and circular (outward migration is followed by inward migration).

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