Dora Kostakopoulou
(D.Kostakopoulou@warwick.ac.uk)
European Union citizenship is neither a reflection of national citizenships nor a nominal citizenship corollary to the fully-fledged or ‘real’ national citizenships. It has matured as an institution and offers protection from discrimination, be it direct or indirect, as well as from non-discriminatory restrictions that hinder or make less attractive the exercise of free movement and residence by posing ‘unjustified burdens’ and ‘serious inconveniences’. It will also subject denationalisation (and naturalisation) decisions taken by the MS to judicial review and will protect the EU citizen children and their parents from expulsion from a MS as well as the Union as a whole – an issue that has also featured in high profile cases in New Zealand and the UK, since such national measures would have the effect of ‘depriving EU citizens of the substance of the rights attached to EU citizenship’. The conception of integration underpinning EU citizenship law is one of equalization and non-discrimination. Yet another conception of integration has taken root in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. The comparison, and contrast of, the rights-based and participatory approach characterising free movement of persons and Union citizenship with the common framework for the co-ordination of national integration policies toward third country nationals highlights the need for a fundamental rethinking of integration and for more coherent frames and policies.
