EU Citizenship: From an Incipient Form to an Incipient Substance? The Discovery of the Treaty Text

Abstract

Based on the legal-historical analysis of the key features of EU citizenship as interpreted by the Court before and after the entry into force of the Treaty of Maastricht, it is claimed that the continuity of pre-Maastricht citizenship law was only broken two years ago, when Rottmann was decided and a new rights-based paradigm of EU citizenship law emerged, potentially rivalling the internal market-based vision of European law. This article outlines the countless problems related to the emerging substance of the new paradigm which can develop both ways from where we stand at the moment: either introducing clarity and coherence, or undermining the edifice of EU law.

Keywords: EU citizenship, Internal Market, Ruiz Zambrano, McCarthy, Wholly internal situation, reverse discrimination, EU federalism, law, fundamental rights, Rottmann, nationality, Dereci