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; and long-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.