RT Conference Proceedings
T1 The European Union and new dimensions of citizenship
A1 Postigo-Asenjo, Marta
K1 Ciudadanía
K1 Unión Europea
AB The European integration process raises interesting challenges to the conceptualizationand the exercise of citizenship in a multinational cosmopolitan context. Certainly, thecurrent institutional architecture of the European Union (EU) faces tough criticism. Onthe one hand, anti-European parties and Euro-skeptics, by means of Euro-exit initiativesand on nationalist grounds, challenge the very existence of the European integrationproject. On the other hand, federalist and pro-European intellectuals often complain thatthe EU has not gone far enough with respect to the democratic, the civic and/or thesocial integration of the Union.In spite of such criticism, the European integration process has given rise to a novel andsingular form of citizenship: the so-called dual form of citizenship. The European dualform of citizenship entails a combination of national and supranational civicmembership. EU citizenship –which is automatically conferred on every EU citizen bythe Treaty on the Functioning of the EU–, does not replace, but complements nationalcitizenship. In this regard, it implies the automatic expansion and improvement ofcitizens’ rights and opportunities –for example, the right to vote and stand as acandidate in municipal and European Parliament elections and the right to move andreside freely within the EU–. Moreover, EU treaties (now including the Chapter ofFundamental Rights of the EU, legally binding on the supranational institutions and onnational governments since 1 December 2009) and institutions such as the Court ofJustice of the European Union, contribute to the enhancement of the legal and judicialmechanisms for the protection of basic rights.In spite of these benefits and achievements, the democratic shortcomings of the EU’sdecision-making architecture encourage citizens’ distrust of the EU. In addition, onebasic goal and achievement of the European integration project, which is citizens’mobility within the EU, is facing serious setbacks. Indeed, the Schengen Agreementsallow for exceptions which are too easily employed by the member states in orderstrengthen their borders controls and restrict intra-European mobility; which has justintensified as a consequence of the economic crisis, and more recently, the “refugeescrisis”.The focus of my paper is on the conceptual challenge that the European integrationproject raises to the modern idea of citizenship. One of the basic conditions for theexercise of the democratic citizenship has traditionally been national membership. Yet,this has just been challenged by the European integration process and the dual form ofcitizenship that it has guaranteed. In Section 08, of the ECPR General Conference, Iwould like to address the conceptual implications of EU citizenship.
YR 2016
FD 2016-10-19
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10630/12243
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10630/12243
LA eng
NO Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech.
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 21 ene 2026