The European Union's Citizenship Regime. Creating Norms and Building Practices

This article deploys the concept of citizenship regime to describe the citizenship norms and practices of the European Union (EU). The EU is, and has been since 1957, involved in building citizenship practices. The goal of the article is to reanimate discussions of European citizenship and to recapture them from the almost exclusive control of political philosophy and a focus on the standard liberal democratic model. Instead, it presents the European citizenship regime for what it is: a set of norms and practices in motion. Its characteristics are captured by analysing four dimensions of any citizenship regime: the responsibility mix; acquired rights and duties; governance; and belonging. On each dimension, current citizenship practices of Union citizenship are briefly described. When this is done, the EU is observed to be adjusting its borders and boundaries of citizenship.