Redefining free movement of persons in the wake of developments to European citizenship and principles of human rights

Abstract

What rights does a person enjoy when residing in a member state that is not his own? How has the status of Union citizenship affected free movement of persons? And how does the protection of human rights in this context compare with the protection accorded under the European Convention on Human Rights? These are a few of the questions that shall be discussed. This dissertation shall not focus on Union citizenship or on human rights in the abstract but will delve into how citizenship and the growing international awareness of human rights have affected free movement of persons. How Union citizenship has expanded rights in this ambit when the intention thereof was not to enable the creation of such additional rights and duties, but also how case law and secondary legislation has served to extend rights as pertain to Union citizens to third country nationals. Through existing case law particularly of the Court of Justice of the European Union and of the European Court of Human Rights and secondary legislation we shall attempt to define a trend that has characterized the development of human rights. A sequence will be drawn that will underline the shift from a purely economic ideology to a deep-rooted social concern which will ultimately suggest an understanding not only of what human rights may be claimed but moreover, the cause that has led to this change in course.