Redefining citizenship in a growing Europe
Since the EU came into existence, the concept of statehood in Europe has evolved. 'The space of citizenship in Europe' (EUCITISPACE-II) was an EU-funded project that looked at different definitions of European statehood, focusing on citizenship and EU spatial policies. To achieve its aims, the project team re-examined the debate on EU integration, looking at EU statehood restructuring and rescaling. It published a manuscript for a book that outlines relevant EU citizenship policies, such as those on free movement and how this affects the concept of national territories and spaces. EUCITISPACE-II also demonstrated the value of analysing EU integration as a process of statehood restructuring, closely studying EU legislation as well as public controversies on EU citizenship and space. Interestingly, the project looked at citizenship law as a dynamic set of processes and not as a legal status. It redefined EU citizenship as a set of acts and operations to trace its political effects and unravel its politicised nature. This also involved investigating distinctions within national citizenships and between them in Europe in the context of EU citizenship law. In addition to legal, institutional and historic factors, the project team also focused on economic considerations, geographical proximities and enlargement in relation to EU citizenship. A notable project achievement in this respect was a workshop at the European Parliament on the current challenges for European citizenship in times of economic crisis. The project published three papers on southern Europe and the crisis, examining unemployment as a threat to social stability and cohesion. The papers also touched on encouraging a green economy to overcome challenges related to cohesion. Innovative research on European integration was disseminated to both European and non-European audiences through several channels, fostering healthy debate on social cohesion and citizenship. The results of this project have certainly enlightened the debate on what it means to be an EU citizen.
Keywords
Statehood, citizenship, EU legislation, social stability, cohesion, unemployment, green economy
