Citizenship, identity and immigration in the European Union: Between past and future

Book abstract:

This book examines the theory and practice of European political integration by providing a theoretical framework for European Union citizenship and European migration policy, and a set of proposals for institutional reform. The book studies the process of community building in the European Union and examines three main issues; the question of socio-political membership in the emerging European polity and the issue of European identity; the theory and politics of EU citizenship; and the issue of immigration.

The book has seven chapters. Chapter 1 examines European identity with sections on the conditions of possibility of a European identity and a typology of European identity options. The second chapter, 'The Institutional Construction of European Identity' looks at the emergence of European identity since 1957 followed by a section on the Maastricht settlement. The third chapter looks at the concept of European citizenship as a new form of citizenship and the Treaty of Amsterdam's compromise over citizenship. The fourth chapter examines the extent to which different analytical frameworks of citizenship can help overcome the limitations of the European Union's policy on citizenship and identity. Chapter 5 provides an alternative theoretical perspective based on evolving ideas of community membership and the institutional dynamics of the European Union followed by chapter 6, 'Schengenland and its Alternative', which examines the possibilities for an alternative design of immigration policy. The final chapter examines the individual and the process of the constitution in the context of an environment marked by institutional change.

The book is aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students of European politics, European integration, European Union law, political theory and sociology as well as academics and political actors interested in European governance.

Theodora Kostakopoulou is Lecturer of European Law and European Integration at the University of Manchester.