82 R. Barbulescu Political rights for mobile Union citizens Compared with their fellow citizens, mobile Union citizens lose their political rights in the home country and most of the times they do not regain them at destination. This situation produces a cleavage between the mobile and the stationary Union citizens in the member state of origin as well as in the member state of residence. In this context, mobile Union citizens have only limited voting rights at the local level and in elections for the European Parliament while stationary Union citizens enjoy full political rights. So far my argument is in line with Bauböck’s: mobile Union citizens should not be penalised for exercising free movement right. However, we differ on the solution: voting rights in national elections should be portable across the EU and linked with (legal) residence. This mechanism is not new. It has guided the implementation of the EU rights Union citizens enjoy today: social contributions and pensions, medical insurance, local voting rights, etc. In this scenario, Union citizens would be the ones deciding where they want to exercise their voting rights. They could register their residence in the destination country and transfer these rights there or they could ‘hide’ their change of residency from their country of origin and continue to enjoy political rights there. Sociological studies on the lifestyle of mobile Union citizens show that they skilfully combine rights they have ‘at home’ with rights they have in their new homes. Where Union citizens would choose to vote if they had the opportunity to do it either in their country of origin or of residence remains an open question and for most people, social ties and political loyalties will change with the passing of time. Why naturalisation solves too little too late When foreigners naturalise, they become citizens with full citizenship rights. They gain not only political rights but also access to a set of privileges reserved to nationals. The most common reserved privileges are public sector employment, service in the army, access to non-contributory social benefits and, of course, the right to vote in national election. It seems that a naturalisation option might actually solve the problem of disenfranchisement. And, it would do so not only for mobile Union citizens but also for their children and children’s children. Why then is naturalisation not the most appropriate solution for Union citizens? First of all, changing the rules of acquisition of their citizenship in 27 countries in order to make it easier for Union citizens to naturalise will take