A qualified defence of the primacy of nationality over European Union citizenship

Journal article

The relationship between EU citizenship and nationality is still defined by ‘linkage’ and ‘derivation’: national citizenship enjoys primacy over and conditions access to EU citizenship. However, because naturalisation decisions have a European dimension as well as a cross-border dimension, various commentators have questioned whether this primacy is desirable. This article examines alternative models of EU citizenship and argues that the answer is not to reconsider the criteria of ‘linkage’ and ‘derivation’, but to create some common EU rules on ‘access’ to national and EU citizenship. A particularly attractive solution is for rules on the grant of nationality to be guided by the idea of a ‘genuine link’. Reflecting on the Commission's recent report on investment citizenship within the EU and the debate it provoked, this article questions whether such shared rules can currently be adopted.

Authors: Van Den Brink, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Journal: International and Comparative Law Quarterly
• Volume: 69
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 177-202
• Publication date: 2019-12-23
• Acceptance date: 2019-11-28
• DOI: 10.1017/S0020589319000538
• EISSN: 1471-6895
• ISSN: 0020-5893
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR