Paper short abstract:

The last cases of the European Court of Justice reveal how deep its decisions reshaped national citizenship for the sake of human rights. I will explain how the ECJ narrowed the role of the EU Member States to protect their national citizenship from foreigners seeking for new citizenship.

Paper long abstract:

In many situations, the judgments of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) have been seen as an intervention in the national law of Member States of the European Union. The last cases of the European Court of Justice (Rottmann, Micheletti, Chen, Tjebbes) reveal how deep its decisions reshaped national citizenship for the sake of human rights.

I will explain how the ECJ narrowed the role of the EU Member States to protect their national citizenship from foreigners seeking for new citizenship.

In this respect, I will consider the relevant cases solved by the ECJ concerning the rights of non-European individuals who obtained EU Member States citizenship by marriage or due to their children born in the hosting EU Member States. Methodologically, I intent to show which decisions changed eventually the core of national sovereignty by imposing procedural requirements in obtaining national citizenship in accordance with the human rights and Internal Market principles.

Cases selected in my presentation will lead to the conclusion that by its judgments the ECJ has increased the opportunities for non-European individuals to acquire an EU Member State citizenship. Finally, I indent a debate on the solutions needed to protect EU citizenship to become offshore citizenship for the sake of human rights and Internal Market principles.