Privileged Third-Country Nationals and Their Right to Free Movement and Residence to and in the EU: Questions of Status and Competence

Abstract

Although, at the current state of development of the European Union (EU) legal order, EU citizenship is exclusively enjoyed by nationals of Member States, certain third-country nationals also benefit from some of the rights inherent to this status, mainly the right of free movement and residence. This chapter examines the rights, associated with EU citizenship, enjoyed by nationals from Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland and compares the extent of these rights to those enjoyed by EU citizens. EU citizenship rights include the right to free movement and residence within the territory of Member States. It determines which legal basis of primary law allows the Union to conclude international agreements that extend the right of free movement to third-country nationals when the Treaty solely confers it to EU citizens. The chapter concludes that Norwegians, Icelanders, Liechtensteiners and Swiss indeed enjoy true rights of free movement and residence to the EU. Keywords: European Union (EU) citizenship; Member States; Norwegians; right of free movement; Switzerland; third-country nationals