Protection of European Union Citizens Abroad: Legal Framework and New Challenges

One practical benefit of being a European Union (EU) citizen is the right to be protected by diplomatic and consular authorities of any Member State in a third country where the citizen’s own Member State is not represented. The primary aim of this study is to examine the contemporary framework of EU law regarding the protection of European citizens abroad and to answer the question of how this law affects the internal law and practice of EU Member States. By analysing normative rules, it seeks to review the evolution and scope of this protection. It presents the transposition of relevant EU law by the EU Member States on the example of Poland (with some references to other Central European States). The research also covers the effectiveness of the European External Action Service, including its EU Delegations, in relation to European consular protection, as well as the practical aspects of the application of Directive 2015/637 on the coordination and cooperation measures to facilitate consular protection for unrepresented citizens of the EU in third countries. As many problems and ambiguities in the application of these regulations have been revealed, particularly during the large-scale crises that have occurred in recent years (COVID-19 pandemic, military conflicts in various parts of the world, etc.), in December 2023, the European Commission proposed to amend Directive 2015/637 in order to strengthen EU citizens’ right to consular protection. The proposal is also subject to analysis in this paper in order to assess the possibility of producing its intended outcomes, including enhanced legal clarity, streamlined cooperation, greater effectiveness of consular service, higher standards of consular support, and response to crises.

Keywords: EU citizenship, consular assistance, diplomatic protection, protection of EU citizens abroad, European External Action Service, European consular protection, consular cooperation