25 years after the introduction of EU citizenship this book reconsiders its contradictions and constraints as well as promises and prospects. Analyzing a disputed concept and evaluating its implementation and social effects Reconsidering EU Citizenship contributes to the lively debate on European and transnational citizenship. It offers new insights for the ongoing theoretical debates on the future of EU citizenship – a future that will be determined by the transformative path the EU is going to take vis à vis the centrifugal forces of the current economic and political crisis.

This book identifies, analyses and compares a variety of possible ‘barriers’ to the exercise of European citizenship and discusses ways to move beyond these barriers. It contributes in a multi-disciplinary way to a highly topical issue and offers new perspectives on EU citizenship in the sense that it critically analyses concepts of citizenship, the way EU citizenship is politically, legally and socially institutionalized, and elaborates alternatives to the current paths of realizing EU citizenship.

Civil, economic, political and social rights are at the centre of the concept of European citizenship. In this volume, the focus is on the political-constitutional dimension of European citizen-ship, which is discussed from the perspective of several disciplines - history, constitutional law and political science. It provides a multi-faceted account of the evolution of European citizenship and its institutionalization, explaining why certain rights came into existence at a certain time and focussing on several key actors involved, such as the European Court of Justice.

This book critically analyses the case law on EU citizenship in relation to its personal free movement rights, its status on the primary law level, and EU fundamental rights protection. The book exposes the legal space where EU citizenship variably loses or gains legal relevance, and questions how this space can be overcome. Through a thorough analysis of the core personal free movement rights of residence, family reunification, equal treatment and equal political participation, the book demonstrates how the development of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union has generated a two-tiered legal concept of EU citizenship. Depending on the nature of the legal claim at hand, EU citizenship may appear as a poor legal personhood for exercising free movement rights; sometimes pushing the individual who is in a factual cross-border situation out of the scope of Union law. Contrastingly, in other strands of the jurisprudence, we see EU citizenship and its primary law levelled-rights stretch the jurisdictional scope of Union law, triggering the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights for review of the individual case. The book enhances the understanding of the legal concept of EU citizenship in Union law and contributes to the debate on the future development of EU citizenship, its relationship to the Charter, and the strength of its legal position for the person who exercises freedom of movement.

The process of European integration has had a marked influence on the nature and meaning of citizenship in national and post-national contexts as well as on the definition and exercise of civil rights across Member States. This original edited collection brings together insights from EU law, human rights and comparative constitutional law to address this underexplored nexus.Split into two distinct thematic parts, it first evaluates relevant frameworks of civil rights protection, with special attention on enforcement mechanisms and the role of civil society organisations. Next, it engages extensively with a series of individual rights connected to EU citizenship. Comprising detailed studies on access to nationality, the right to free movement, non-discrimination, family life, data protection and the freedom of expression, this book maps the expanding role of European law in the national sphere. It identifies a number of challenges to core civil rights that the current supranational framework is at pains to address. The contributors suggest and develop several new ideas on how to take the EU integration project forward. Civil Rights and EU Citizenship provides an innovative perspective on both the conceptual dimensions and the actual realities of rights-based citizenship which will be of interest to legal scholars, practitioners and policy-makers alike.

This book offers an in-depth analysis of the relationship between EU citizenship, the European arrest warrant (EAW), and the legality principle. It focuses on the role of the EAW in relation to two foreseeability problems with which EU citizens – especially those who exercise free movement rights – could be confronted. These problems concern the foreseeability of specific national criminal laws at the time of the offense on the one hand and forum decisions on the other. The first part of the book addresses the extent to which these foreseeability problems and the role of the EAW therein are viewed as legality problems at the EU level and in three national legal orders (the Netherlands, Germany, and England and Wales). In turn, the second part of the book critically examines the current scope and content of the legality principle in light of the EU’s objective to offer its citizens an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) in which both safety and free movement are guaranteed. As EU citizens often encounter foreseeability problems when exercising their free movement rights, it is argued that they should be protected by a transnational framework of fundamental rights. The book subsequently makes recommendations for a transnational interpretation of the legality principle, one which fits the normative context of the AFSJ as described in Article 3(2) TEU. On the basis of the evolution of EU citizenship over time, the book also develops two EU citizenship narratives and explains how they could contribute to transnational fundamental rights protection and a solution to foreseeability problems. With regard to arriving at concrete solutions, the book offers recommendations for EU legislation that could adequately remedy foreseeability problems and the role of the EAW therein.

Family law, gender equality, care arrangements and the consequences of demographic change have long been on the agenda of the European Union. However, these are coloured by national and cultural factors more than any other disputes, and form a barrier to the equalising of status for European citizens. Using an interdisciplinary approach, and bringing together law scholars, political scientists and sociologists, this book looks at the implications of the categorisation of identity in the European Union, and what they mean for the realisation of citizens’ rights throughout the EU.