European Citizenship between Past and Future

• Author: Georgeta Modiga
• Position: Associate Professor, PhD, Faculty of Law, 'Danubius' University of Galati, Romania
• Pages: 389-395

The European Citizen and Public Administration

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The European Citizen and Public Administration

European Citizenship between Past and Future

Georgeta Modiga

1

Abstract: The European Union, an organization built on the ruins of the Second World War the desire to

curb the war on the continent once and for all, was doomed from the beginning to end in one day political

contours, so Europe is now united policy at the core of the future of Europe. This aspiration has become

increasingly manifest in the adoption in 1992 of the Treaty of Maastricht, culmina ting today with the debate

on the European Constitution. “Europe” today was forged from th e beginning of the ruling political elites and

not the citizens. Is it p ossible to continue this course today? Talking about European citizenship is part of the

broader theory and political philosophy, legal and sociological. East European citizenship a recent concept

(established by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992) born of an old id ea (dating approximately from the 40s) that

refers to a reality uncertain and inconsistent. Holders of European citizenship are n ationals of Member States

of the European Union. Citizenship as a concept has a content both political (the right of citizenship Fortress

defining an individual's personal status) and legal (on the set of sub jective rights that an individual may

invoke). Existential condition of citizenship is the ability to have rights (individual rights as positive theory of

law) and be able to implement them. As a consequence, European citizenship exists to the extent that its

holders can enjoy rights derived from this status.

Keywords: citizens; European; European society

Although the scientific use of the notion of” European identity” has made progress since 2000, the

term continues to pose problems. Much of the literature on

This topic deals with the general philosophy in historical terms or common values and lifestyle of

Europe, either as a continent bringing together a set of states, either as a civilization that distinguish it

from the rest of the world, to some extent legitimate integration economic and politica1. Another part

of the literature deals with European identity as a process of psycho- sociological or socio -political

attachment of citizens to the European space policy and community achieved through integration.

European identity will gradually raise a number of sociological debates bearing on the validity of the

concept of identity. Rogers Brubaker and Frederick Cooper highlights the drawbacks of the concept

that frequent reformulations made him less operational; In this sense, identity is, as Sophie says

Duchesne, caught in a series of tensions: between similarity and difference, objectivity and

subjectivity; individually and collectively; permanent contextually and transformation.

In a sociological book, Charles Tilly treats identities (always plural) via responses that individuals /

groups give individuals question the: who are we?, Claiming that these responses exert an undeniable

influence on the ability and inclination to social actors negotiate and act as one.

1 Associate Professor, PhD, Faculty of Law, “Danubius” University of Galati, Romania. Address: 3 Galati Boulevard, 800654

Galati, Romania, Tel.: +40.372.361.102, fax: +40.372.361.290, Corresponding author: georgeta.modiga@yahoo.com.