A sense of responsibility : the shifting roles of the Member States for the Union citizen

Abstract

This Ph.D. thesis introduces the concept of responsibility into the field of Union citizenship law. More concretely, it centres around the responsibility of the Member States for the Union citizen. ‘Responsibility’ is used not as a positive legal concept, but rather as a narrative tool to reexamine the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It is argued that Union citizenship creates new responsibilities for both the home and the host Member States. Union citizenship, analysed through the lens of responsibility of the state, describes persons who are recognised, protected, and linked to a state (or multiple states), rather than persons who are emancipated and independent from the state. At the core of the thesis lies a test of the following hypothesis: Union citizenship has created a continuum of responsibility between the home and the host Member State for the citizen. In theory, this creates a system in which the responsibility seamlessly shifts from the home to the host state once the citizens moves, and shifts back from the host to the home, if the Union citizen falls outside of the realm of Union citizenship rules. The thesis examines the ways in which this hypothesis is true, but also draws out its limits. It highlights the increasing importance of the role of the home Member State for the Union citizen. The analysis demonstrates that the Court of Justice has reinforced the link of nationality between home Member State and Union citizen, and simultaneously decreased the responsibilities of the host Member State for the Union citizen. This shift of responsibility away from the host and towards the home Member State can be interpreted as an attempt of the Court of Justice to safeguard the status of Union citizenship at a time when its legitimacy is increasingly questioned.