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Phenomenon of the European Union citizenship
Section 4. European law
Mykhalko Mariia Mykolaivna, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, master student, Faculty of Law E-mail: mykhalkomariya@ukr.net
Phenomenon of the European Union citizenship
Abstract: In this article there are defined issues connected to phenomenon of the EU citizenship. There are described features of such phenomenon, its legal basis and nature.
Keywords: personal status, citizenship of the EU, additional citizenship, rights of individual.
Issues connected to the European Union (here and further — the EU) often attract attention of scholars. The reason is such topics are always actual especially those which touch personal status of individuals within the EU. The EU is a unique foundation, neither state, nor ordinary organization and position of an individual in this foundation is definitely worth of researches.
In this article there will be defined issues connected to phenomenon of the EU citizenship. There are some scholars who have studied this issue. Among them there can be named Philip Alston, Mara R. Bustelo, James Heenan, Allan Rosas, Esko Antola, Francis G. Jacobs and others. But anyway this issue remains to be topical because such systems as the EU develop rapidly and researches in this sphere are always actual. Moreover a phenomenon of the EU citizenship has appeared not so long ago and still is not fully researched.
The article 15 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:
“1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality” [9, art. 15].
Conceptually the terms nationality and citizenship are not synonymous, but today in most countries of the world nationality is often regarded as identical to citizenship [7, 41]. The same situation is also with international documents. So, here and further, if it is said “nationality”, it means “citizenship”.
The European Convention on Nationality is the only international act which contains notion of nationality (citizenship). “Nationality means the legal bond between a person and a State and does not indicate the person’s ethnic origin” [5, art. 2]. So according to this definition citizenship is a personal status which defines an individual as a member of a state. And if we speak about a bond, it means mutual rights and duties of an individual and a state [8, 512].
Citizenship of the European Union was introduced by the Treaty on European Union (TEU — Maastricht Treaty), which entered into force in 1993. In the Preamble to that Treaty, the heads of state recorded that they were resolved “to establish a citizenship common to nationals of their countries” [6, 591].
TEU (art. 9): “In all its activities, the Union shall observe the principle of the equality of its citizens, who shall receive equal attention from its institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. Every national of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union. Citizenship of the Union shall be additional to national citizenship and shall not replace it” [3, art. 9].
The Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU) (art. 20): “1. Citizenship of the Union is hereby established. Every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union. Citizenship of the Union shall be additional to and not replace national citizenship” [4, art. 20].
There is situation when citizens of EU Member States have 2 citizenships at a time (their own and the EU citizenship). So the problem of dual
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Section 4. European law
(multiple) citizenship can arise as “multiple nationality means the simultaneous possession of two or more nationalities by the same person” [5, art. 2]. At the same time there are some Member States which prohibit multiple citizenship in the national legislation (for example, Croatia, Estonia, Netherlands and so others) [2]. So there can arise a collision between national legislation of Member States and the EU legislation. To answer this question we should analyze 2 main features of the citizenship. Firstly, whether the EU citizenship as a personal status give any rights to an individual and secondly, if there is a connection of the person with the state (in other words if the EU can be regarded as a state).
To analyze this phenomenon, its contours should be firstly defined. If a category of persons is endowed with certain rights and duties is created, then accordingly, other persons are excluded. The inclusion of certain groups implies the exclusion of others. One of the points of establishing citizenship is the exclusion of others from the rights and entitlements granted to these citizens, and from the duties attached to such citizenship [1, 60].
Totally there are 2 criteria which can separate citizens from non-citizens: nationality (of the Member States) and extension of the rights and duties [1, 60-61].
It’s obvious now that to acquire citizenship of the EU a person should acquire citizenship of one of the Member states. The same situation is with loss of this citizenship. But what about rights which characterize this citizenship? Specific rights of the EU citizens are established in para. 2 art. 20 TFEU:
“2. Citizens of the Union shall enjoy the rights and be subject to the duties provided for in the Treaties. They shall have, inter alia:
a) the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States;
b) the right to vote and to stand as candidates in elections to the European Parliament and in municipal elections in their Member State of residence, under the same conditions as nationals of that State;
c) the right to enjoy, in the territory of a third country in which the Member State ofwhich they are nationals is not represented, the protection of the diplomatic and consular authorities of any Member State on the same conditions as the nationals of that State;
d) the right to petition the European Parliament, to apply to the European Ombudsman and to address the institutions and advisory bodies of the Union in any of the Treaty languages and to obtain a reply in the same language.
These rights shall be exercised in accordance with the conditions and limits defined by the Treaties and by the measures adopted thereunder” [4, art. 20].
A similar list of rights is contained in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Chapter V, entitled “Citizens’ Rights” [6, 592]. From a comparative point of view the conclusion can be made that the core and origin of Union citizenship is the right to free movement. Mobility is the central element, around which other rights crystallize. This provision firstly forms part of the fundamental economic freedoms of the European market: the mobility of economically active persons has now been elevated to the core of European citizenship and expanded into mobility for persons generally. In other words, the economically irrelevant people have been promoted to the status of persons [1, 65].
It is only the secondary issue that “the right to vote and to stand as candidates municipal elections in their Member State” is mentioned, whereas the right to vote and to stand as candidates in elections to the European Parliament is conferred on every citizen, even those who reside in Member States other than their “own” ’ [1, 66].
All other rights are quite clear and don’t need additional explanation.
Most scholars agree that the EU citizenship has not replaced nationality, but created additional rights for nationals from Member States. The main characteristic of citizenship is additionality: it adds to group of national rights (provided by Member States for every its citizen) a second set of rights, based on Community law, enjoyed in any Member State. The rights embodied by the notion of citizenship of the Union are strictly limited, even though there is provision for their further enlargement. This limitation creates a difference towards national citizenship: Union citizenship is a concept which is limited to the effects expressly mentioned in the Treaty and which is therefore distinct from the general character of national citizenships. This is the guarantee for the enjoyment of certain rights, the exercise ofwhich no
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Phenomenon of the European Union citizenship
longer depends on which Member State nationality an individual possesses [7, 47].
Moreover the legal bond between the individual and the EU is much weaker than the connection between the person and the state. It can therefore be called into question whether citizenship of the EU can be called a citizenship in the sense which was defined above. The individual’s rights under the EU law are not, as they are in the state, attached to a firm status relationship between the individual and the Union.
The analysis of researches in the area of the EU citizenship showed that scholars don’t see a problem of dual citizenship in this phenomenon. The fact is every citizen of Member States has at the same time
one more citizenship — the citizenship of the EU. As we know, there are some Member States which prohibit multiple citizenship in the national legislation (for example, Croatia, Estonia, Netherlands and so others) [2]. But the fact is that citizenship of the EU is not national citizenship in its classic manifestation. It plays additional role in association and cooperation between Member States and its citizens. Moreover this citizenship is the status which existence helps to grant citizens of the EU with special (supranational) rights which touch supranational activities. So we can’t even to perceive citizenship of the EU as the second citizenship in understanding of national laws of Member States. It must be recognized as the supranational citizenship.
References:
1. Rosas Allan. A Citizens’ Europe: in search of a new order./Allan Rosas, Esko Antola. - London: SAGE Publications, 1995. - 237 p.
2. Citizenship Laws of the World. - Washington: United States Office of Personnel Management Investigations Service, 2001. - 233 p.
3. Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union.//EUR-Lex. - 2012.//[Electronic resource]. -Available from: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal- content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012M/ TXT&from=EN.
4. Consolidated version of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union.//EUR-Lex. - 2012.// [Electronic resource]. - Available from: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri= CELEX:12012E/TXT&from=EN.
5. European Convention on Nationality. 6 November 1997 - Strasboug, 1997. - 32 art.
6. Jacobs Francis G. Citizenship of the European Union - a legal analysis./Francis G. Jacobs.//European Law Journal. - 2007. - P. 591-610.
7. Beenen Nanda. Citizenship, Nationality and Access to Public Service Employment: the impact of European Community law./Nanda Beenen. - Groningen: Europa Law Publishing, 2001. - 298 p.
8. Alston Philip. The EU and Human Rights./Philip Alston, Mara R. Bustelo, James Heenan. - New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. - 942 p.
9. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. - 10 December 1948.// [Electronic resource]. - Available from: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/.
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