Barriers to European citizenship: An EU-wide analysis
The project BEUCITIZEN (All Rights Reserved? Barriers towards European citizenship) is geared towards highlighting options for a multi-layered citizenship true to the EU's motto 'unity in diversity'. Team researchers have identified research questions and outlined categories of potential hindrances to help answer these questions and to come up with suggestions how barriers to the exercise of EU citizenship rights can be overcome. Areas of study include contradictions between different rights, multi-level rights and differences in priorities on the part of Member States; differences in political, administrative and legal institutions; financial restraints; administrative and bureaucratic hurdles; and language problems. The project distinguishes citizenship rights according to type (economic, social, political and civil; the horizontal dimension) and categories of citizens (male/female, young/old, native/immigrant; the vertical dimension). Boasting a group of almost 80 scholars from different disciplines and backgrounds, the consortium comprises 26 universities and institutes from 19 EU countries. BEUCITIZEN's multidisciplinary approach includes a historical and comparative dimension and considers insights from the historical, legal, political and social sciences as well as economics and philosophy. Beyond its legal or constitutional dimensions, citizenship is considered in terms of its interdependence between rules and practices, the influence of societal and political processes, and its multidimensionality. Initial activities included an Open Forum debate that provided valuable input on the European Commission's 'EU Citizenship Report 2013'. This also made the project known to a larger group of interested parties. Work has been divided across 12 work packages, with a focus on bridging theory and empirical work. Team members produced a paper elaborating the original research design, with 10 cross-cutting topics pegged to make up chapters in the planned book 'All rights reserved? Constraints and contradictions of European citizenship'. This work will offer a synthesis of the main findings once the project is completed. A framework has been established for analysing case studies related to rivalling citizenship claims, and various reports produced on topics such as different categories of citizens and balancing citizenship of insiders and outsiders. BEUCITIZEN is advancing knowledge on whether and how identified barriers can be overcome. The analysis and findings will underline future opportunities and challenges faced by the EU and Member States in further developing the idea and reality of EU citizenship.
Keywords
European citizenship, EU, European integration, citizenship rights, unity in diversity
