Looking for Substance at the Boundaries: European Citizenship and Mutual Recognition of Belonging

Abstract

Winds of change have been blowing in the ranks of European citizenship ever since the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) inaugurated a few years ago the doctrine of the genuine enjoyment of the substance of the rights of citizenship. Such a new doctrinal prong represents a bold departure from the Courts traditional doctrine of supranational citizenship, premised on the building of an ever thicker web of connections between free movement rights and citizenship rights.1 In a cluster of recent cases, the CJEU has found that national measures may interfere with a European citizens rights even in situations where no free movement rights have been exercised. This is the case if the provisions in question threaten the enjoyment of the genuine substance of European citizens rights.