European Union citizenship and member state nationality: rethinking the link?

Abstract

That European Union citizenship remains an unfinished institution is beyond any doubt. Even its modest original content enshrined in the Treaty of European Union revealed this. Article 25 TFEU (formerly Article 22 TEC) has always carried the promise of the extension its material scope of Union citizenship by a unanimous decision of the Council in accordance with a special legislative procedure and after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament. Although this procedure has not been activated yet, EU citizenship has evolved. For more than a decade, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has not hesitated to subject it to critical reflection and inquiry and to embark upon unknown and controversial terrains, thereby inviting both admiration and fierce criticism. European judges have taken quite seriously constitutionalisation of Union citizenship and sought to respond positively to citizens’ needs and expectations. But as their decisions are guided by norms which often conflict with states’ interest in unilateral migration control and the pursuit of power, governments have not hesitated to express their disapproval of what they perceive to be judicial policy-making.