The EUI Widening Europe Programme initiative, backed by contributions from the European Union and EUI Contracting States, is designed to strengthen internationalisation, competitiveness, and quality in research in the so-called Widening countries, and thus foster a more cohesive European Higher Education and Research area.
Citizenship laws are traditionally viewed as the bastion of national sovereignty where, except for human rights norms on non-discrimination and avoiding statelessness, there is strong resistance to internationalization. This is the case even in the European Union, where member state nationality provides access to Union citizenship yet the competence to regulate citizenship is principally located at the level of the national state.
In the wake of the 2004 EU enlargement, scholars speculated about convergence in citizenship policies towards a more immigrant-friendly model among new member states with putatively ethnic traditions that prioritized diaspora ties over newcomers’ integration. While East-West stereotypes have been criticized for misrepresenting historical legacies, this does not prejudice real pressures exerted by Europeanisation, recent migration experiences and democratic consolidation.
This project leverages an expert network covering 12 East European countries. We will take stock of these developments and ask: What is the impact of legal, demographic and political developments on the regulation of citizenship in post-2004 EU member states and candidate countries?
The project team works in close cooperation with the Global Citizenship Observatory (GLOBALCIT) project.