Shadow Citizenship: The Construction, Meaning and Content of European Citizenship
Gölge Vatandaşlık: Avrupa Vatandaşlığının İnşaası, Anlamı ve Kapsamı
Gözde KAYA
European citizenship is regarded as a sui generis citizenship which holds a derivative character and is additional to the Member State citizenships. This citizenship introduced by the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, has been brought forward with the purpose of creating a feeling of belongingness among the nationals of the Member States paving the way for the creation of a European identity. The evolution of European citizenship has taken place both through the efforts put in force by the Member States as well as the supranational institutions of the European Union (EU) such as the European Commission, European Parliament and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over a long period of time. Nationals of the Member States who were initially granted with some limited market related rights in line with the aim of the economic integration, were inevitably transformed into Union citizens holding rights granted exclusively for them. The meaning and the value of European citizenship has accordingly been extended to hold a political and constitutional sphere through the ambitious judicial activism of the ECJ. However, still since its introduction, European citizenship is continuously considered to hold a symbolic meaning and value far away from having an independent character apart from the national citizenships. This article seeks to demonstrate that European citizenship might still be considered as a shadow citizenship that follows the national one despite of the recent corner stone judgements delivered by the ECJ having far reaching constitutional effects. This destiny seems not to be changed as long as the Member States of the Union do provide otherwise.
European Union, European Citizenship, EU Law, EU Citizens’ Rights, Right of Residence.
Avrupa vatandaşlığı, Üye Devlet vatandaşlıklarını tamamlayıcı ve türemiş bir niteliğe sahip, sui generis bir vatandaşlıktır. Maastricht Antlaşması ile 1993 yılında getirilen bu vatandaşlık, bir Avrupa kimliği yaratılması sürecine giden yolda Üye Devlet uyrukluları arasında bir aidiyet hissi yaratılması amacıyla ortaya konmuştur. Avrupa vatandaşlığının oluşumu hem Üye Devletler hem de Avrupa Birliği’nin (AB) Komisyon, Parlamento ve Adalet Divanı gibi uluslarüstü yapıya sahip kurumlarının çabaları sonucunda uzun bir süreçte ortaya çıkmıştır. Başlangıçta ekonomik bütünleşme süreciyle de uyumlu olacak şekilde kendilerine sınırlı nitelikte Pazar vatandaşlığına bağlı haklar tanınan Üye Devlet vatandaşları, kaçınılmaz olarak sadece kendilerine özgü haklar tanınan Birlik vatandaşlarına dönüşmüştür. Avrupa vatandaşlığının anlamı ve değeri zamanla, Avrupa Birliği Adalet Divanı’nın (ABAD) aktif içtihat hukuku çerçevesinde politik ve anayasal boyutu da içerecek şekilde gelişmiştir. Bununla birlikte, Avrupa vatandaşlığı yine de ilk kurulduğu zamandan bu yana ulus devlet vatandaşlıklarından bağımsız bir nitelik kazanmaktan uzak bir şekilde, her daim sembolik bir anlama ve değere sahip olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Bu makalede ABAD’ın geniş anayasal etkiye sahip güncel ve dönüm noktası niteliğinde öneme sahip içtihat hukukuna rağmen, Avrupa vatandaşlığının hala ulusal vatandaşlığı takip eden gölge bir vatandaşlık olduğu tartışılmaktadır. Bu kader, AB’ye Üye Devletler aksini öngörmediği sürece de değişecek gibi gözükmemektedir.
Avrupa Birliği, Avrupa Vatandaşlığı, AB Hukuku, Avrupa Vatandaşlarının Hakları, Yerleşme Hakkı.
INTRODUCTION
European citizenship which has been introduced to European Union (EU) legal system through Maastricht Treaty can be regarded as a sui generis concept which has not earlier existed under international law. This citizenship has indeed emerged as a part of the project of creating a European identity which would enable the then European Economic Community to speak with one voice on the international stage. The efforts in creating a European citizenship accompanied by the need to create a feeling of belongingness among the nationals of the Member States were put forward gradually by both the Member States and supranational institutions of the EU over a long course of time.1 The initial steps stemmed from the economic needs of the integration process which accordingly have acquired a political and constitutional aspect. While, nationals of the Member States were granted with some narrowly-defined market related rights within the early stages of the integration, they were granted some exclusive rights introduced solely for them within the foundation of the Union.2
The only condition to acquire European citizenship is to hold one of the nationalities of the Member States of the EU. That gives the Union citizenship the very debated characteristics of being a symbolic, secondary and derived citizenship which go no further than being additional to national citizenships.3 Hence, it will not be wrong to regard the European citizenship as a shadow citizenship which closely comes behind the national one. Still, the judicial activism offered by the case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) firmly supports the development of this concept and from time to time carries it even to a level beyond what is indeed truly envisaged by the Member States.
This article will seek to clarify the construction, true meaning and the content of the concept of European citizenship from a detailed and comparative perspective as well as to try to figure out the current state of level it has reached under the case law of the Court. In that regard, the first part of the article covers the development of the European citizenship concept through its historical background which is deeply analyzed both within a political and legal context. The second and the major part of the article brings forward an analysis on the definition, characteristics and the full scope of the rights granted to European citizens under both primary and secondary sources of EU legal system as well as the landmark cases covered within the case law of the ECJ. The last part of the article is dedicated to an analysis with regard to the current value of Union citizenship under some recent judgements which are of revolutionary nature.
I. THE DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP IN POLITICAL CONTEXT
European citizenship has evolved gradually over the course of the whole European integration process. This process which has been largely shaped by the Member States of the EU, has indeed still been continuing. Therefore, it will be useful to try to analyze this long-lasting period with regard to the political and historical background through dividing it into three consecutive phases.
