Statelessness in the European Union the European Union (‘EU Charter’). 51 Among the rights attached to EU citizenship is the right to participate in European Parliament and municipal elections in the Member State of residence, as well as the right to submit a complaint to the European Ombudsman, petition to the European Parliament, and communicate with the EU institutions. 52 EU citizens are further entitled to receive protection in a third-country, in which the Member State of nationality is unrepresented, from the diplomatic and consular authorities of any of the Member States on equal terms with the protection afforded to the nationals of that state.53 Moreover, citizens of the EU that are engaged in or seek employment in one of the Member States enjoy the right of non-discrimination on the basis of nationality (or the lack thereof) as ‘regards employment, remuneration and other conditions of work and employment’. 54 This is complemented, as contained in art 7 of Regulation 492/2011, 55 by a right to be treated equally in receiving social and tax advantages as well as in accessing vocational training. Lastly, and considered the cornerstone of EU citizenship rights by most, EU citizens are granted the right to ‘move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States’. 56 Under EU law, and specifically Directive 2004/38/EC (‘Free Movement Directive’), free movement and residence rights are available to various categories of citizens, ranging from the economically active to the economically inactive. 57 The scope of the rights enjoyed depends on the classification of the individual. The right of (legal) residence is restricted to three months for economically inactive citizens of the EU, but may be extended beyond this for semi-economically, including students and persons of independent means, and economically active citizens. The latter category, consisting of workers and the self-employed, have additional rights of movement and residence for the purpose of employment or establishment. 58 In the instance that the period of legal residence in a Member State exceeds five years, the EU citizen is entitled to a permanent residence permit in that Member State, regardless of the capacity in which that person has been able to reside for five years. 59 Put otherwise, the right to permanent residence is available for all EU citizens, and their family members, whether they are economically active or not, as long as they have legally resided in that Member State for five years. 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 EU Charter (n 2). TFEU (n 6) arts 20(2)(b), (d). ibid art 20(2)(c). ibid art 45(2). Regulation No 492/2011 on Freedom of Movement for Workers within the Union [2011] OJ L141/1. TFEU (n 6) art 20(2)(a). Directive 2004/38/EC on the Right of Citizens of the Union and Their Family Members to Move and Reside Freely within the Territory of the Member States [2004] OJ L 158/77 (‘Free Movement Directive’). Kathrin Hamenstädt, ‘The Impact of the Duration of Lawful Residence on the Rights of European Union Citizens and Their Third-Country Family Members’ (2017) 24(1) Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law 63. Free Movement Directive (n 57) art 16(1). For further information, see Elspeth Guild, Steve Peers and Jonathan Tomkin, The EU Citizenship Directive: A Commentary (2nd edn, Oxford University Press 2019). 33