Join us for a thought-provoking presentation that explores the problematic competition between the EU and its Member States over ownership of a yet-to-be-fully-realised European sociopolitical space.
Citizens living in the territory of the European Union have been singularly affected by its existence and modes of governance. Europeans are no longer just Dutch, Croatian, Ukrainian, or Turkish. They are also free-moving workers, family members with derived rights, asylum seekers, and/or contributing to the financing of the groups just mentioned. Europeans may, in the course of their lives, take on several of these different roles. At the same time, Member States continue to play a central role within EU decision-making, acting as an almost insurmountable obstacle between individuals and the European polity.
Despite growing socioeconomic inequalities, neither the EU, nor its Member States, appear equipped or willing to create spaces for the individuals in their territories to form transnational socioeconomic and political relationships. The Member States continue to insist on their unique position as spaces for political expression, centred on citizenship and national sovereignty. At the same time, the European Union remains focused on fostering market-oriented individualism, which excludes non-mobile European citizens and non-European citizens within European borders. As a result, the distance between the EU’s ambition to become a community of solidarity (Preamble to the TEU) and the social realities of Europeans continues to grow.
In their presentation, the speakers start by considering some key normative questions regarding belonging, which they aim to conceptualise as the necessary connection between the EU and all individuals within its territory, regardless of nationality. By taking a socio-legal approach, they then consider two areas of law that are currently legally and socially divisive, but hold great potential in building belonging: income tax and environmental protection.
Dr. Ana Bobic will also deliver a talk on judicial conflict and the reconfiguration of control in EU criminal law on Monday, 9 June. This event is organised by the EUI European Union Law Working Group.
The talk will be held in hybrid format and will be open to both the EUI community and the public. Please register at the link below.