What is EU Citizenship for? European Integration, Society, and the Everyday

Abstract

Europeanization has come far, as a form of society transforming force where not only laws and policies are Europeanized, but also societies and the everyday lives of citizens. In this chapter, this Europeanization is addressed in terms of what EU citizenship means for the “everyday” in European integration. While there is consensus in the literature that EU citizenship is a rights-based form of membership with mobility as its core attribute, it is still normatively charged with political and academic disagreement over its “meaning”. Debates on it from lawyers and political scientists abound, yet there is little research on it as a form of socio-political paradigm for the everyday lives of Europeans in times of open borders, integrated markets, and complex interdependence in international politics. If we want to conceptualize EU citizenship as inclusive of all Europeans, we should consider it as a variable term that can hold meaning for EU citizens in different everyday situations and which go beyond those of its typical imagery, that of the mobile citizen. The chapter theorizes this in terms of four conceptions of “living together” in the complex societal space of 21st century Europe, focusing on territory, societal integration, and political community.