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The recognition of European citizenship by the Treaty on European Union (Treaty of Maastricht) introduced a novel legal institution into the European construction, hitherto unknown in international law. Its historical importance and nature will be analysed through different perspectives. The analysis of the structure of European citizenship reveals main advantages and disadvantages of the current concept. However, in its current form, it offers a very limited list of rights. Until recently, citizens' rights were neglected and invisible at the level of the European Union. This is especially visible in the policies towards the candidate and accession countries, which are obliged to follow certain human rights standards in order to meet the conditions for membership. The importance and meaning of European citizenship for third country
nationals has been emphasised over the last few years.

This paper identifies two ideal types of citizenship - the cosmopolitan and the communitarian, that correspond to the transnational and sub/national levels of the European Union respectively, and examines four different ways in which they might be combined.

European citizenship, which was once seen as the symbol of European integration, is increasingly perceived as an obstacle to self-government and a threat to national welfare. As European ruling classes fail to provide an adequate response to the tensions that arise from the wider trends of globalization, anti-political movements are gaining support. A significant part of European citizenry is aligning with parties that preach the restoration of national borders and the reinstatement of cultural identity as the source of sovereign power embodied in the nation state. Does the way forward reside in dissolving the European project or reducing the power held by European institutions? In this article, we suggest the opposite. We need to begin by recognizing the significance of European integration as an evolving political experience of immense magnitude. We need to emphasize that Europe today provides citizens with unique means to claim social, political and economic rights by going beyond the borders of their states, create alliances, invoke different conventions and treaties, and debate and contest dominant perspectives in front of diverse audiences. Ultimately, we need to utilize a European citizenship that reinstates political power to citizens towards fostering fresh sentiments for a new form of integration.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Figures and tables -- List of contributors -- Acknowledgements -- European Citizenship and Social Exclusion. An Introduction -- I. Restructuring Citizenship in the European Union -- 1. Citizenship and Exclusion: Reconstructing the European Union -- 2. Citizenship and Social Inclusion in the European Union -- 3. The Development of European Union Citizenship. A Critical Evaluation -- II. Economic Exclusion and Citizenship: Work and Income in Europe -- 4. Work and Citizenship in Europe -- 5. The Crisis of Economic Citizenship in the EU. Lean Production and the German Model -- 6. Social Integration and Labour-Market Marginalization. The Scandinavian Experience -- 7. The Informal Sector in the European Union. Mitigating or Reinforcing Economic Exclusion? -- 8. Employment and Social Identity. Theoretical Issues -- 9. Social Policy, Social Exclusion and Citizenship in the European Union. The Right to be Unequal? -- III. Social and Economic Exclusion and Citizenship: Social Policy in Europe -- 10. Restructuring Social Rights in the EU. Does a Flexible Employment and Benefits Regime Entrench Exclusion and Inequality? -- 11. The Welfare Society and the Welfare State. The Portuguese Experience -- 12. Urban Integration and Citizenship. Local Policies and the Promotion of Participation -- IV. Socio-cultural Exclusion and Citizenship: Identity and Immigration in Europe -- 13. European Union Identity and Citizenship. Some Challenges -- 14. Immigration, Citizenship and Nationalism. Internal Internationalization in Germany and Europe -- 15. Citizenship and Social Exclusion in the European Union -- 16. Anti-racism, Multiculturalism and Struggles for a Multicultural Democracy -- 17. Citizenship, Association and Immigration. Theoretical Issues -- Bibliography

In this paper we distinguish two rival theories on the relationship between European citizenship in the sense of a legal construct on the one hand and a European collective identity on the other hand. According to the first theory a collective identity is a necessary condition for the development of a legitimate European political community. The second theory claims that there is indeed an empirical relationship between these two concepts, but the causal sequence is not necessarily unidirectional. Once a political community is established it can breed a sense of community. In this paper we test the hypothesis that formal citizenship breeds both a sense of European citizenship and a sense of European community. Our analyses do not offer firm evidence in support of the hypothesis in either case. The time of entry of the Union rather than the length of membership as such explains differences in the sense of European citizenship. A similar conclusion applies to the development of a sense of European community. Trust in the people from the new member states in Central and Eastern Europe among the citizens of the older member states is very low. The 2004 enlargement therefore meant a serious blow to the development of a European community.

Ten years after the maastricht treaty came into force, it is still unclear what we should make of the so-called 'citizenship of the european union'. Some commentators have celebrated it as an unmistakable step away from the nation-state paradigm: european citizenship as 'postnational' membership in its most elaborate form. Others, however, point towards the largely symbolic nature of the new status and argue that it was only introduced to cover up the union's legitimacy problems. Creating too high expectations could even run the risk of only strengthening the prevalent scepticism about the ongoing process of european integration. After a brief historical introduction, this paper deals with symbolic aspects and identity, with the practical meaning of european citizenship for people's daily lives, and concludes with some tentative remarks on the outlook for the future.