The Outcome of Citizenship - Essay Example

The Outcome of Citizenship Citizenship is amongst the attributes of government and of a free and civilized society. Citizenship is the membership in a political community which is more or less permanent in nature. It is the status of being a citizen, a member of the body politic of a state, wherein one owes allegiance to and may claim reciprocal protection from its government. Generally, the magnitude of having a citizenship is the entitlement to certain rights like the right to receive protection from the government, the right to vote, to run for public office, land ownership as well as utilization of natural resources, operation of public utilities, administer educational institution or manage mass media amongst others. This essay aims to discuss the rights of European Union Nationals with regards to their citizenship within the community and in their respective states. European citizenship was established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. It basically requires that one in order to be classified as a citizen of the union must first hold the nationality of a member state. As such, it is incumbent upon the member state to lay down the conditions for the acquisition and loss of nationality. Correspondingly, each and every one who possess nationality in any of the European Union member states are also considered as European Citizens. This signifies that while these people are citizens of their home country, with the rights and responsibilities that citizenship involves, they are likewise considered as citizens of the European Union with additional rights and duties. In that order, many will find it difficult to come to terms with the idea of having a citizenship of an international organisation. The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 set on establishing a citizenship shared by all European Union countries which provides for a clear set of rights which are open to all nationals of European member states wherein further studies were undertaken to study the feasibility of expanding the rights accorded to the EU nationals. The aforementioned treaty incorporates and bestowed on every European citizen fundamental and personal rights. Thereafter the Treaty of Amsterdam came into force in 1999 and The Treaty of Nice in 2001 facilitated an extensive grant of rights to the European Citizens which includes the following among others: The right to move and reside freely within the European Union, subject to certain limitation as may be provided for by the community law; the right to vote for and to run as candidate in Municipal and European Parliamentary election in any Member state the EU citizens resides; it likewise provides for access to the diplomatic and consular protection of another member state outside the European Union and the right to petition the European Parliament and to lodge a complaint before the European Ombudsman among others. Additionally, the aforementioned list is not exclusive, the European Treaties, the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, the Council of Europe's convention on Human Rights and the constitutional traditions of the members states accorded its respective citizens to enjoy these rights. As a result, citizenship of the union provides for the enhancement of national citizenship devoid of replacing it. Similarly, the idea of a European Citizenship plays a part in bringing the peoples of Europe closer, which inculcates the advantages of European integration and most importantly, it supports peace and better understanding amongst the member states. It is also in this same light that European Citizenship supports and persuades peoples to move around the European Union either for economic or academic purposes; it promotes and advance European identity based on the foundation of the recognized common values, history and culture and it is on this light which correspondingly enhances mutual understanding between European citizens in respecting and remembering diversity in culture and at the same time facilitates inter cultural exchange of ideas. Recent developments in case law further explain clearly the concept of European Citizenship and the fundamental rights that go along with it. Among these is the right of citizens of the European Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the Territory of the European Union. The landmark case of Kunquian Catherine Zhu, Man Lavette Chen v. Secretary of Home Department (2004) provides for the right of residence in cases of children and minor with nationality of one of the member state, but residing on another member state which have parents whose a national of a non-member country. The case cited Article 1 of Directive 73/148, which states that Member states shall, abolish restrictions on the movement and residence; correspondingly, it also cited Article 1 of Directive 90/364 which provides for additional requirements so as to meet the demands of this free movement within the member states. In the case, taking the Directives, together with Article 18 of the European Community the court ruled that since the minor in the instant case together with his parents may be subjected to certain conditions which guarantees such rights for nationals of member states to whom it is not available under other provisions of Community law and for members of their families. The court pronounced that the questioned directive taken together with the European Community Treaty confers on a young minor who is a national of a member states, is covered by the appropriate sickness insurance and is in the care of a parent who is a third-country national having sufficient resources for the minor and as such, the minor is not burdensome on the public finances of the host member state. On the other hand, on the case of the minor's mother, the court decrees that it guarantees the "dependent" relatives in the ascending line of the holder of the right of residence, the right to install themselves with the holder of the right of residence and taking into consideration that there were emotional bonds between a mother and her child or on the grounds wherein the mother's right to enter and reside in the member state is dependent on the child or minor's right of residence. Correspondingly, it laid down the foundation that a refusal to allow the parent, whether a national of a member state or a national of non-member country, who basically took care of the child was synonymous to refusal granted right of residence. The court pointed out that it is clear that a young child's right of residence necessarily involves that the child is entitled to be accompanied by the person who is his or her primary carer and accordingly that the carer must be in a place to reside with the child in the host member state. Another noteworthy feature of the EU citizenship is the right of the citizens with respect to the freedom of movement for person and the right to apply to work. In the case of Christos Konstantinidis v. Stadt Alternsteig (1993) the court ruled in favour of Konstantinidis when it decreed that there is no prohibition on the transcription of a Greek name in Roman alphabet characters. It further ruled that it is contrary to the provision for a Greek national to be compelled to use, in the pursuit of his occupation, a spelling of his name whereby its pronunciation is modified which subsequently results in the distortion of his name which thereby cause potential confusion of his person and as such it will be detrimental to his right to work. Another noteworthy subject on this matter is the right of citizens with respect to loans and social security arrangements. In the case of The Queen (on the application of Dany Bidar) v. London Borough of Ealing, Secretary of State for Education and Skills (2005), the court ruled that any assistance in terms of subsidized loans and grants, it is permissible for a member state to ensure grant of assistance provided that the student lawfully resides in the host member state to cover their maintenance costs. Relative to this case is the case of Rudy Grzelczyk v. Center public d' aide sociale d'Ottignies-Louvain-la Neuve (2001) wherein the Court re affirms that every citizen of the union shall have the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the member states, subject to the limitations and conditions laid down in the Treaties. Union citizenship is destined to be the essential status of nationals of the member states which will enable those who find themselves in the situation to enjoy the same treatment in law irrespective of their nationality, subject to such exceptions as are provided for. With regards to the benefits provided for by governments like social security, the case of Francis Collins v. Secretary of Stae for Work and Pensions (2004) provides that the treaty provisions does not rule out the national legislation which is tasked to provide for entitlement to a job seeker's allowance conditioned on the residency requirements so as to justify the basis of the consideration that are independent of the nationality of the persons concerned and the proportionate to the legitimate purpose of the national provision. One more case related to this is the case of Maria Martinez Sala v. Freistaat Bayern (1998) the court held that a child raising allowance is a benefit provided for and it is automatically granted to persons. fulfilling certain objective criteria lacking any individual and discretionary assessment of personal needs. Citizenship is a symbol of equality. One's status as a citizen is an indicator of belongingness to a community, which in turn is confers on the individual sets of rights and obligations. And as such, European Citizenship is concept which serves as the connection at hand, as well as linking the rights of social status, wealth of occupation. However, it must also be noted that there is the recent Acts of Accession, as such; there is a suspension of the application of free movement rights of worker coming from new member states. With this development in the European Union, the direct implications are diminishing it terms of the rights of the nationals to the new member state and could lead to a possible division of European citizens to classes based on their nationality. Reference Christos Konstantinidis v. Stadt Alternsteig C- 168/9 (1993) European Union Citizenship, a wide set of rights and obligations. (date accessed November 30, 2006) Francis Collins v. Secretary of Stae for Work and Pensions Case 138-02 (2004) Kunquian Catherine Zhu, Man Lavette Chen v. Secretary of Home Department Ca-No. 200/02 (2004) Maria Martinez Sala v. Freistaat Bayern C-85/86 (1998) Rudy Grzelczyk v. Center public d' aide sociale d'Ottignies-Louvain-la Neuve C-184/99 (2001) The Queen (on the application of Dany Bidar) v. London Borough of Ealing, Secretary of State for Education and Skills C-209/03(2005), Read More