The (im-)possibilities of a European citizenship

To what extent is it possible for a true European citizenship to arise according to academics? This essay tries to give a short overview of recent scholarly debate on this issue and concludes that not all is lost.

Democracy

According to U.K. Preuss and others, citizenship has traditionally been defined along the borders of the nation state. Without a state, there could be no citizenship; without citizenship, there could be no democracy. Sovereignty was provided by democratically controlled territory with legally standardised subjects and exclusive coercive force within the boundaries of this territory. E. Meehan argues the notion of citizenship has come to be so closely associated with nationality the words are almost interchangeable. Deficit

The coming about of a true European citizenship is often seen as the solution to the so-called democratic deficit in Europe, since citizens constitute the body that is governed. J.H.H. Weiler points out that equality and participation among citizens are necessary for the functioning of a democracy. When looking at the European Union today however, none of these traditional qualifications apply. If we would take the borders of the European Union and restrict our view to the official European citizens within, we would exclude many who consider themselves Europeans and include many who might not. Rights

An important distinction to be made is the one between rights and identity. Both constitute citizenship, but have very different origins and consequences. The first entail the legal provisions, the citizen as bearer of rights and duties. All this is safely embedded in European law, and all the more if the new constitution were to be ratified. Identity is something altogether more complex. In Percy B. Lehning’s description identity refers to the sense of belonging to a community, the sharing of a common identity and the anticipation of a future common endeavour. This is problematic in Europe, since identity is usually linked up with nationality, which is absent at the European level. Identity

Many authors have made suggestions on how a European identity could be created or could exist. Meehan claims the link between citizen, nationality and nation state is contingent and not necessary. Both the territorial scope of citizenship and the content of the values and rights associated with it have varied according to political, historical and cultural contexts. This idea opens up options for other connections to the European polity than nationality. Very early on in the European integration process, the idea arose that citizens should play a larger role at some point in time. But, as Monnet said in a 1958 speech, ‘no one falls in love with a common market.’ Europe should go beyond the economic sphere to tie people to its objectives. Constitutional patriotism

J. Habermas is one of the big proponents of ‘constitutional patriotism’. A European demos cannot be based on ethno-cultural homogeneity, but on other grounds. Therefore constitutional patriotism could bring a solution. A nation of citizens derives its identity in this view from the praxis of citizens who actively exercise their civil rights. It is the political culture that is shared, while subjects are aware that they are a part of a multicultural society – patriotism without nationalism. A European constitution is the basis for this type of identity building. This option however does not seem very feasible. Apart from the fact that European citizenship will most likely never grant exactly the same constitutional rights as national citizenship does (e.g. social welfare), this conception of citizenship is devoid of any emotion. It is overly rationalistic and therefore distant from fuzzy reality. It is elitist to think that people will fall in love with a constitution, as the present developments regarding ratification demonstrate. Symbols

An interesting strand of research tries to investigate if people in the future will be more inclined to identify with European symbols and therefore engage in European matters. M. Bruter shows that more exposure to and knowledge of European symbols - such as a flag, an anthem, a news medium or political parties - does enhance the notion of European citizenship next to the national identity. The researcher also proposed a European soccer team and a European peace force. Even though subjects did not think this was likely in the near future, they could conceive themselves to be proud of such institutions on a world scale. It is interesting when thinking about citizenship to focus on more emotional, ‘soft’ sides of European identity instead of purely on the economic or political aspects. Multi-leveled identity

The idea of post-national citizenship takes the European Union as a sui generis polity to theorise about citizenship in new innovative ways. Citizenship can extend above and below the national level. R. Grundmann uses the term ‘concentric identity’ to describe this multi-layered citizenship. If people can think of themselves as both Flemish and Belgian, why should it be impossible for them to combine a Polish and a European identity? A large research by L. Hooghe and G. Marks using Eurobarometer data shows that even though most Europeans overwhelmingly still feel national before anything else, the percentage of people saying that they feel European first is growing steadily over the decades. The research demonstrates that individuals do feel attached to different tiers of the European Union simultaneously. There is no trade-off in the sense that more European identity means less national identity. The prospects based on these conclusions are that indeed something like European citizenship is emerging or can emerge. Participation

Up to this point the meagre definition of citizenship has been used that only takes account of the rights and the identity citizens have. Of course, these constituting elements cannot be disregarded. But citizenship is also a democratic practice, a mode of civic participation, or an ‘active sense of public duty,’ as Rumford puts it. These are quite some requirements that not even all national citizens might live up to. They represent an ideal image of citizens. Civil society though, and with it the polity, needs active citizens in order to sustain and develop itself. If we want the European polity to really establish itself, such citizens are needed. In the ‘strong’ democracy perspective of for example R.B. Barber, a citizen’s task is to share in self-government, which is understood as ‘deliberating with fellow citizens about the common good and helping shape the destiny of the political community.’ In reality however, it is a small elite that performs these tasks at the European level, representing a very limited scope of interests. It is unlikely this ideal will come closer to reality in the near future. Let it grow

There is no reason to be negative about the prospects for European citizenship. Even if the status quo is still a far cry from the ideal citizenship practice, there are many openings according to research to enhance European identity. It is healthy to realise that new forms of citizenship can emerge next to the national level. The rights for citizenship are ensured and identity can come about by thinking about options such as European media or European wide symbols. Identity building does not happen overnight, so European citizenship cannot be expected to emerge rapidly. It will not happen by means of a constitution or other short-term measures, but if we take time to expand the European civil society and let people participate in European wide projects, citizenship can grow next to national identity.

Talitha Koek, Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek, Amsterdam

This article was puclished in Politeia Newsletter 38 - July 2005

R.B. Barber, A place for us: How to make society civil and democracy strong (New York: Hill and Wang, 1998)

M. Bruter, ‘Winning hearts and minds for Europe - the impact of news and symbols on civic culture and identity’ in Comparative political science 36(10) (2003), pp 1148-1179

R. Grundmann, ‘The European public sphere and the deficit of democracy’ in: D. Smith, and S. Wright (eds), Whose Europe? The turn towards democracy. (Oxford: Blackwell publishers/the sociological review, 1999), pp 125-147

J. Habermas, ‘The European nation state. Its achievements and its limitations: on the past and future of sovereignty and citizenship’ in: Ratio Juris 9(2) (1996), pp 125-137

L. Hooghe and G. Marks, Multi-level governance and European integration (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2001)

Percy B. Lehning, ‘European citizenship: towards a European identity?’ in: Law and Philosophy 20 (2001), pp 239-282

E. Meehan ‘Political pluralism and European citizenship’ in: P.B. Lehning and A. Weale (eds), Citizenship, democracy and justice in the new Europe (London: Routledge, 1997), pp 69-85

U.K. Preuss, M. Everson, K. Koenig-Archibugi and E. Lefebvre, ‘Traditions of Citizenship in the European Union’ in: Citizenship Studies 7(1) (2003), pp 3-15

C. Rumford, ‘European civil society or transnational social space? Conceptions of society in discourses of EU citizenship, governance and the democratic deficit: an emerging agenda’ in: European journal of social theory 6(1) (2003), pp 25-43

J.H.H. Weiler, ‘To be a European citizen – Eros and civilization’ in: Journal of European Public Policy 4(4) (1997), pp 495-519