Ius Tractum of Many Faces: European Citizenship and the Difficult Relationship between Status and Rights

70 Pages Posted: 10 Mar 2009 Last revised: 27 Feb 2018

See all articles by Dimitry Kochenov

Dimitry Kochenov

CEU Democracy Institute, Budapest; CEU Department of Legal Studies, Vienna

Date Written: March 3, 2009

Abstract

The citizenship of the European Union is a rare example of a "fundamental status" which is entirely dependent on the specific features of the bearer, instead of vice versa, making any appeal to equality between European citizens impossible. Based on an overview of the legal essence and functioning of European citizenship both as a legal status and a bundle of rights, this paper provides a critical analysis of the current development of the European citizenship concept vis-a-vis both citizens and third-country nationals in the EU and addresses key issues which will have to be resolved to create a truly meaningful citizenship in Europe. The deficiencies of European citizenship are too important to resolve them rhetorically by appeals to the interplay between different legal orders in Europe. Sooner or later the outstanding problems will have to be addressed in a constructive way. The EU does not need a citizenship of unequals by law.

Keywords: European Union, Citizenship, EU citizenship, equality, reverse discrimination, third country nationals

JEL Classification: K19, K33

Suggested Citation

Kochenov, Dimitry and Kochenov, Dimitry, Ius Tractum of Many Faces: European Citizenship and the Difficult Relationship between Status and Rights (March 3, 2009). Columbia Journal of European Law, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2009, pp.169-237., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1352734

Dimitry Kochenov (Contact Author)

CEU Democracy Institute, Budapest ( email )

Nador utca 9
Budapest, H-1051
Hungary

CEU Department of Legal Studies, Vienna ( email )

Quellenstraße 51
Vienna, 1100
Austria

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