The Legal Elements Of European Identity

The individual has become visible throughout Europe and within its institutions as a potential or actual rights holder. He or she is no longer defined as visible or invisible in law by the nation state alone. In today's Europe, he or she establishes identity'that is, the rights to entry, residence, work, family life, and protection from expulsion'through a multilayered legal structure involving the nation state, the EU, and the Council of Europe and all their political, administrative, and judicial arenas. In this remarkable study Elspeth Guild examines the ways in which law in Europe defines the status of the individual and his or her entitlements as regards identity. Among her enlightening approaches to this complex subject the following may be listed: the right to move across borders;the limitations of citizenship of the Union as currently construed;social benefits of citizenship;residence; immigration;family reunification;human rights of foreigners;asylum;expulsion and readmission;racial discrimination; andlong-resident third-country nationals. The analysis includes extensive reference to relevant cases, especially European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights decisions. This is a work of great value and insight. As more and more legislation is adopted in the area of European citizenship, courts will increasingly be called upon to articulate the relationship of individuals to the territory and society in which they find themselves. And as this inevitable development is defined, all jurists and legal academics who care for civil society in Europe will discover this deeply considered book afresh.

It is said that at the start of the 21st century a certain indifference and lethargy characterise many European states. This is supposedly attributable partly to the peace and affluence secured within the EC, but otherwise to doubts regarding the ways towards and objectives of further European integration. The emphasis on national identity on the one hand and hopes for a 'united states of Europe' on the other is an insurmountable paradox which produces its own dynamic. It seems almost impossible to reconcile these opposing concepts in a way which will find acceptance among the majority of the people. The concern of this book is to re-establish the European idea and to show that the EU member states can build upon common elements to create a European identity so as to work together and complete the tasks which confront them all. This book indicates the initial components of a European concept of legislation and judicial interpretation, required if European integration is to develop into a force for positive change. Together with increased transparency and further democratisation, a method of European legislation and judicial interpretation is essential for the legitimacy and persuasiveness of law. Only such a law will be truly accepted by the citizens of Europe and can be the motor of a strengthened sense of shared community, the basis for a European identity.

Jirí Pribán's book contributes to the field of systems theory of law in the context of European legal and political integration and constitution-making. It puts recent European legislative efforts and policies, especially the EU enlargement process, in the context of legal theory and philosophy. Furthermore, the author shows that the system of positive law has a symbolic meaning, reflecting how it also contributes to the semantics of political identity, democratic power and moral values, as well as the complex relations between law, politics and morality.

Based on the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Leuven, 2013.

First published in 1998, this volume focuses critically on the European identity of the law of the European Union, of national law and the law of human rights. It is primarily concerned with the ways in which European identity is created through the rejection of a malign Other constituted in opposition to all that a virtuous Europe and its law, are supposed to be. The construction of this Other is explored in claims of the EU legal order to a unity and coherence transcending the nation-state; in the assertion of a European identity through laws effecting cultural, immigration and security policies; and in the claims to a lofty 'European-ness' made by national law and the European Convention on Human Rights. A major contribution to the understanding of European Law in the terms of the debates over modernity and postmodernity, this book will interest those involved with studies of the European Union and its law, with critical legal studies and also with socio-legal studies.

Makes the innovative effort of examining the interplay between political identity and legitimacy in the unprecedented but also unfinished development of the European Union into a fully fledged political actor.

Making sense of the perplexing diversity of Europe is a challenging task. How compatible are national identities in Europe? What makes Europe European? What do Europeans have in common? European National Identities explores the diversity of European states, nations, and peoples. In doing so, the editors focus on the origins and elements of different national identities in Europe and different themes of national self-understanding. Each chapter contributes a unique view of national identities gravitating around myth, historical experiences and traumas, values, ethnic and linguistic differences, and religious fault lines. This work grounds European national identities within cultural, historical, and political dynamics, which makes the work approachable for many readers, including historians, sociologists, and political scientists. In addition, the editors illustrate that national identities continue to be a source of contention and a challenge to political developments, the demands of immigrants and minorities, and the dynamics of European integration. This book draws particular attention to identity shifts and conflicts within individual European countries.

Over the past few years, 'national constitutional identity' has become the new buzzword in European constitutionalism. Much has been written about the concept involving the Member States' national constitutional identities: it has been welcomed for (finally) accommodating constitutional particularities in EU law, demonized for potentially disintegrating the EU, and wielded as a 'sword' by certain constitutional courts. Scholars, judges, and advocates in general have rendered the concept currently so fashionable and, yet, so ambivalent, that an in-depth analysis is warranted to put some order into the intense debate over constitutional identity. This collection brings together a series of contributions in order to shed some light into the dark corners of constitutional identity. To this end, a threefold approach has been followed: a conceptual or philosophical approach, an approach based on EU law, and an analysis of the case-law of several European courts. First, the book explores what constitutional identity means and who decides on it. Further, the contributions analyze (and at times unveil) the areas that might collide or at least interact with constitutional identity. Among other issues, the book touches upon EU law primacy , Article 53 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, EU criminal law and the essential functions of the State, and the existence of an EU 'constitutional core' enjoyable and enforceable through EU citizenship. Finally, the book deals with the case-law of European courts on national constitutional identity, including the perspective of various national constitutional courts, such as those of Eastern and Central European Member States, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the much-less analyzed European Court of Human Rights. (Series: Law and Cosmopolitan Values - Vol. 4)