Does Member State Withdrawal from the European Union Extinguish EU Citizenship?

Does Member State Withdrawal from the European Union Extinguish EU Citizenship? C/13/640244 / KG ZA 17-1327 of the Rechtbank Amsterdam (‘The Amsterdam Case’)

By Oliver Garner

Contents

Introduction: A New Route from Amsterdam to Luxembourg.

A Brief Chronology of the Relevant Facts and Sources for the Amsterdam Case.

A Summary of the Amsterdam District Court Decision.

Legal Analysis of the Questions Referred: The Arguments for and against Automatic extinction and a Potential Compromise.

Conclusion: The Ramifications of Emancipative Legal Constitutionalism.

Introduction: A New Route from Amsterdam to Luxembourg

Despite the United Kingdom’s impending withdrawal from the European Union, a direct Eurostar train route from London to Amsterdam will soon be established. This route will enable, amongst others, all of those holding the status and rights of EU citizenship to move ‘freely’ between the two metropolises. This class still includes nationals of the United Kingdom, and ostensibly will continue to do until that Member State’s withdrawal is concluded in accordance with Article 50 TEU. An incorporeal yet no less direct route has now also been established between Amsterdam and Luxembourg as a result of a preliminary reference by the Rechtbank Amsterdam (‘District Court’) to the European Court of Justice  (‘ECJ’)   under Article 267 TFEU. Such a judicial pathway may facilitate retention of the status and rights created by Article 9 TEU and Article 20 TFEU for the aforementioned nationals of the withdrawing state.

On the 7^th February 2017, the District Court made the decision to send two questions to the ECJ (in translation):

1. Does the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU automatically lead to the loss of EU citizenship of [United Kingdom] nationals and thus to the elimination of rights and freedoms deriving from EU citizenship, if and in so far as the negotiations between the European Council and the United Kingdom are not otherwise agreed  [sic]?
2. If the answer to the first question is in the negative, should conditions or restrictions be imposed on the maintenance of the rights and freedoms to be derived from EU citizenship?

These legal questions cut to the core of the ambiguity that has enshrouded EU citizenship since its ‘creation’ 25 years ago. The potential for the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to provide an authoritative answer thereto could finally lead to a settled and binding definition of the ambit of the ‘existential status’. Specifically, the crucial constitutional question is whether nationality of a Member State is a necessary condition for the retention of the status in the same way that it is a condition sine qua non for its acquisition.

The analysis thereof will proceed in four sections: first, a brief chronology of the facts that have led to the ‘Amsterdam Case’ will be provided. This is followed by a summary of the English translation of the Amsterdam District Court’s judgment. Next, delineation of the arguments for three options facing the ECJ will be provided: ‘Option I’ for automatic extinction; ‘Option II’ against automatic extinction; and the potential compromise of an ‘Option III’. Finally, the piece will conclude with consideration of the potential ramifications of such an ‘emancipative’ constitutional move by the European Union’s judicial institution.

 Continue your reading here please: http://europeanlawblog.eu/2018/02/19/does-member-state-withdrawal-from-the-european-union-extinguish-eu-citizenship-c13640244-kg-za-17-1327-rechtbank-amsterdam-the-amsterdam-case/




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