Video: https://youtu.be/hQhYGf1oLLk
I am glad to be here today to present the 2017 EU Citizenship Report alongside my colleague Commissioner Jourova.
We celebrate this year the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Maastricht treaty which established the European Citizenship.
We should never forget that the European Union exists for the European citizens and through them.
EU Citizenship encompasses the essence of both the necessity and the goal of the common of our European endeavour.
Being a European Citizen means to be able to enjoy fundamental privileges and rights in addition to those of their national citizenship.
It means to be a member of a community of fundamental values and principles, of democracy and rule of law; to be part of the most ambitious project, of peace, security and prosperity in the history of humankind.
It means to have the possibility to participate in democratic procedures, to be actively involved in the EU decision making process, to jointly shape the present and the future of Europe.
The regular European Citizenship report that we present today with Vera is a demonstration of the EU's continuous commitment and outreach to its citizens.
At the same time it offers us the opportunity to reflect on what the European Union can do better in strengthening EU citizenship.
In this context, the "Europe for Citizens" program that I am responsible for, plays a pivotal role in the EU's efforts to develop citizens' better understanding, more active interest and involvement in the EU at all levels.
Every year the Europe for Citizens programme brings together over 1 million EU citizens who engage in a variety of projects at local and European level thus experiencing and fostering their belonging to and being citizens of the European Union.
Given the increasingly transnational challenges of our times, the vast majority of Europeans are asking for common EU actions to address their major concerns such as managing migration and mobility, tackling security threats and ensuring overall safety.
In my personal capacity as the Commissioner in charge of migration, home affairs and citizenship, I am committed to continuing our work on strengthening security within the EU and by stepping up the protection of our common external borders; because we want the European Citizens to be able to live, study, travel, work and do business anywhere, safely and easily in the European Union.
Better protecting our external borders, thanks to for example the European Border and Coast Guard now, will precisely allow us to safeguard the fundamental European right, of all EU citizens, of free movement.
In times of growing nationalism and xenophobia, we must remember where the fundamental rights of EU citizens come from.
We should never take them for granted, and instead continue to defend them.
Yesterday, I visited the concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz, a unique historical monument of unspeakable human atrocities.
In a few days we will commemorate the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
When we remember this dark page of European history, we should not just remember what happened and that it should never happen again.
We should also remember what came out of it.
The European Union was built in this aftermath of the Second World War, and we should always keep in mind, that above all, it is project that has been providing peace and security, rights and freedoms for the European citizens for more than 70 years.
This is the memory, responsibility and permanent obligation that we all as European citizens share.
Thank you.