15 Colum. J. Eur. L. 281 (2009)

Miriam Aziz. Associate Professor of Law, University of Siena, Italy. This contribution was presented as a seminar paper as part of Cornell Law School’s Berger Program in November 2007.

In anticipation of this Special Issue on European Citizenship, the Editors of The Columbia Journal of European Law commissioned an Article from Professor Aziz. We asked her to reflect on her experience with the European project, specifically how the idea of citizenship has guided European development. Drawing from her own interactions with members of the Laeken Convention, as well as the experiences of others, Professor Aziz is disappointed by what she sees; for all their talk of EU citizenship, European technocrats have a lack of connection with the people of Europe. She argues that Europe has moved forward by distracting European citizens from what is really happening at the European level, noting that the real movement on citizenship has been taken by the ECJ. As a result, there is a fragmented view of European-ness, with a lack of clarity as to what European citizenship truly means.