Pluralism Through Its Denial: The Success of EU Citizenship

In Gareth Davies and Matej Avbelj (eds), Research Handbook on Legal Pluralism and EU Law (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar), pp. 179–198

University of Groningen Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 1/2018

18 Pages Posted: 12 Jan 2018 Last revised: 14 May 2019

See all articles by Dimitry Kochenov

Dimitry Kochenov

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

Justin Lindeboom

University of Groningen - Department of European and Economic Law; University of Groningen - Faculty of Law

Date Written: January 9, 2018

Abstract

EU citizenship is derived from the nationalities of the Member States and thus seemingly obeys international law’s ‘anything goes’ pluralism: who is a citizen is for the states to decide. In practice, EU citizenship has effectively destroyed the ties between citizenship and state territory, offering virtually unlimited access to rights far beyond the conferring state’s territory. Since none of the Member States will be willing to give up the claim of sovereignty in nationality matters, holding on to the ‘full sovereignty in citizenship matters’ mantra, access to EU citizenship is paradoxically bound to be pluralist in nature precisely for the most antipluralist reasons. Thus, as part of a perpetual ‘clash of legal orders’, EU citizenship is a crucial federal denominator, shaping the ever-fluid vertical boundaries of competence.

Keywords: EU citizenship, pluralism, federalism, autonomy, nationality

Suggested Citation

Kochenov, Dimitry and Kochenov, Dimitry and Lindeboom, Justin, Pluralism Through Its Denial: The Success of EU Citizenship (January 9, 2018). In Gareth Davies and Matej Avbelj (eds), Research Handbook on Legal Pluralism and EU Law (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar), pp. 179–198, University of Groningen Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 1/2018, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3099099

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

Justin Lindeboom

University of Groningen - Department of European and Economic Law ( email )

Groningen
Netherlands

University of Groningen - Faculty of Law ( email )

Oude Kijk in 't Jatstraat 26
Groningen, 9712 EK
Netherlands

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