Abstract

The author posits a query regarding the nature of European citizenship as expressed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. What does the European citizenship consist of? In what manner does the European Union guarantee its citizens compliance with the rights inscribed in the Charter? The main objective, as seen by constitutionalists, political scientists and philosophers is to build a coherent set of rules, acceptable by all the states, which constitutes European citizenship, as well as the criteria for access to holding it, thereby simultaneously determining the status of particular groups of inhabitants of the European Union’s territory. The model underlying the provisions in respect of citizenship is aimed at a compromise, preserving the ideal of state sovereignty, and at avoiding the building of citizenship based on kinship, common territory, language or the sharing of a given ethnos. The objective of European citizenship is to create a supra-national awareness.