2020 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 2(1) found precisely in its ability to grant those individuals the rights they are in dire need of. This article has demonstrated that the rights attached to EU citizenship are capable of significantly mitigating the challenges and hardships experienced by stateless individuals. The grant of EU citizenship has the potential of simplifying access to legal residence, education, healthcare, meaningful employment and so forth. Furthermore, it could considerably facilitate the naturalisation process for those individuals by assisting them in attaining the required ‘genuine connection’ to one of the Member States. What is significant about this proposal is that, building on the assumption that the EU has acquired the necessary competences to legislate, the EU can avoid encroaching upon either the competences or the sovereign prerogatives of Member States in nationality matters. In granting EU citizenship to stateless persons there is, after all, no need for the EU to interfere in matters of nationality or national citizenship. It remains up to the Member States to determine the grounds upon which national citizenship may be granted. Separating ‘nationality’ and ‘citizenship’ — both conceptually and legally — is essential in this context. With the state no longer possessing the exclusive ability to resolve nationality-related problems, one can imagine an alternate reality in which the EU could be capable of achieving the provision of rights and the facilitation of naturalisation processes without overstepping. It is recognised that there are numerous obstacles to overcome in moving from the hypothetical to reality, not in the least an amendment of the founding treaties. The value of EU citizenship, specifically in the context of statelessness, therefore, derives not from what it currently is, but from what it could be in the future. By extending EU citizenship rights to a population more in need of rights than any other, the institution of EU citizenship has the potential of being more inclusive, more respectful of human rights, and thereby more considerate of the individual. If the aim of the EU is truly to place the interests of the individual at its core and to uphold its values of respect for freedom, solidarity, equality and human dignity, the abovementioned proposal seems worthy of its consideration. Hopefully, then, this article is taken as an opportunity by scholars and practitioners to further explore the value of EU citizenship and to consider it as a possible solution when debates on nationality and citizenship have evolved to such an extent that solutions such as these become feasible. 42