POPULATION : NUMBER OF NEW EU CITIZENS STEADILY INCREASING.

• Position: Brief article

More and more people, mostly from non-EU countries, are acquiring new citizenship in the EU. Figures released by Eurostat, on 10 December, show that 735,000 people acquired citizenship(1) in an EU member state in 2006, compared to 722,000 in 2005, 647,000 in 2003 and 483,000 in 1998.

In 2006, these new citizens were primarily from non-EU European countries (27% of the total number of citizenships acquired), Africa (27%), Asia (22%) and North and South America (12%). Citizens of one EU member state who acquired citizenship in another member state accounted for hardly 8% of the total.

Eurostat notes that, in many member states, the citizenship of a child is determined by the parents' citizenship rather than by the place of birth. Acquisition of citizenship therefore concerns not only migrants but also their descendants. This can be considered an important part...