The Outlook for European Citizenship

Abstract

There is some danger with regard to the overall argument as presented here on the continuing relevance of national citizenship, that the title of this book will be misunderstood. It needs to be stipulated that this argument does not imply the advocacy of a Euro-sceptic position, in the sense that citizenship should remain confined within the safe boundaries of the nation state and be defended against intrusion from outside. This book does not, or at least aims not to, entail such a normative theory of citizenship. Nor should it be understood as saying that European citizenship will never be more than pie in the sky; although the position defended here is one that casts doubts on claims of a new post-national European order (cf. D’Oliveira 1995). European citizenship clearly confers some rights on people, be they national citizens, Union citizens or third country nationals, but for the moment at least, these entitlements confirm rather than undermine the vigour of national citizenship. Following the main structure of the preceding chapters, this outlook for European citizenship rests on two pillars: a conceptual argument about citizenship and an empirical analysis of Europeanization in the field of immigration policy.