Five minutes with the European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly: “Citizens need to be honest and empower themselves to reach out to institutions”

The principle of European citizenship was introduced by the Maastricht Treaty and came into force in 1993. To mark the 20th anniversary of European citizenship, 2013 was officially designated the ‘European Year of Citizens’, with the aim of raising awareness about the rights of citizens living across the EU. EUROPP’s Assistant Editor Eri Bertsou spoke to the European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, about the importance of European citizenship, and the wider role of civil society organisations in EU politics.