Union citizenship : legal framework and dynamics

Abstract

While citizenship and nationality have historically been tied very closely to the nation state, the introduction of Union citizenship in the early 1990s has introduced a European dimension to citizenship rights in the EU. This chapter provides an overview of the legal basis in EU primary and secondary law for Union citizenship, while examining the relationship between Union and national citizenship, as well as the independent content of Union citizenship, and its impact on student mobility. It finds that because citizenship of the Union is derived from and based upon national citizenship, the EU's Member States retain broad discretion over the criteria for granting citizenship, as well as many of the rights that go along with it. Nonetheless, this chapter also highlights that increasingly, Member States exercise these rights subject to the principles of mutual recognition and proportionality, as enforced by the ECJ. At the same time, by expanding longstanding rights of movement and enhancing protections against discrimination on the basis of nationality, Union citizenship has significantly expanded access to social services by EU nationals living in another EU Member State, and to dependents living elsewhere in the Union. For students, all of this means that access to higher education institutions is guaranteed to Union citizens, while maintenance grants and other social services are guaranteed after a minimum period of continuous residence.