Öz
The principle of European citizenship has started to be discussed in the
midst of 1970s, but institutionalised in 1993 with the Maastricht Treaty coming
into force. The main reason was to make the European common policies
legitimate in a wider area. Since the integration process has always been
outside and above the member states’ citizens, people were losing their interest
and support in the integration project. The situation materialised by people’s
low participation in the European parliamentary elections, “no” answers to the
referenda on EU issues and questioning the existence of the EU. Besides, public
opinion polls show that still a small minority of EU citizens define themselves
“European” before or with their national belonging. A radical approach states
that the main reason for creation of such a concept has been due to the need to
facilitate the commercial procedures within the European Community. Free
movement of people required a full equality and complete freedom of people for
business. European citizenship is sometimes referred to as practically “an
identity around a European consumer ideal” in the “laissez-faire” European
system. Although the concept of citizenship and citizenship rights existed before
the nation-state came into being, traditionally, citizenship has the condition of
attachment to a nation-state. European citizenship is the first and the only
experience aiming to create a citizenship out and beyond the nation-state, which
can also be called a “post-national citizenship”. It aims to solidify the bond
among different citizens of different states, which would create a European
demos and an identity; because citizen of any member state would be citizen of
Europe. At this point there is a challenge that a member state citizen is at the
same time a European citizen, but he/she becomes a European citizen because
he/she is the citizen of an EU member state; as EU citizenship depends on the
EU membership of his/her state. The problem here is there are already national
citizenships in the European system. It is difficult to convince people to accept
another extra citizenship. “European” is not a legal concept. Today we still
cannot talk about “European citizens”, but citizens of the EU member states.
This is because citizenship requires a state, while the EU is far from being a
state. Perhaps the most important problem in the failure of European citizenship
project and creating a sense of belonging to Europe is the lack of political
participation of the EU members’ citizens to the European politics. It is
impossible to expect these people to feel as “European citizens” if they do not
have the chance to have a role in the government. Thus, as the EU cannot fulfil
the role of a nation-state and cannot attribute duties of a citizen, the European
citizenship project has a long road to go into effect. Briefly, the problem can be
defined as democratic deficit or lack of legitimacy of the EU government. In
order to anticipate the future developments of European citizenship, we should
look at how the biggest steps were taken within the integration process. The
European Coal and Steel Community, for instance, could be considered as a
miracle for the states which were in war for long years. These states accepted to
pool the most sensitive area – production of coal and steel – under a supranational
control. It was the existence of common threat and fear, which were the
Germans and the Soviets, for such a concession. The second important move,
the Maastricht Treaty was signed under the threat of a stronger Germany after
the unification. Today, in order to take big steps, again there is a need for a
common and serious threat. Today, if there is a crisis within the EU – identity,
integration, constitution etc. – the reason is the lack of a common threat which
is also the raison d’être of integration. So the grand problem is the lack of a
reason for the EU member state citizens to share national sovereignties with
supra-national bodies for more integration. Robert Gilpin assumes a test of
loyalty and self-sacrifice. While people continue to give their utmost loyalty to
the nation state and are willing to die for it, very few individuals have made an
equivalent sacrifice for the European Community. Thus, he says, the state still
holds a virtual monopoly over human loyalty.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Citizenship European Integration European Identity Lisbon Treaty Democratic Deficit
Öz
Avrupa siyasi entegrasyon süreci içindeki girişimlerden biri Avrupa Yurttaşlığı’dır. 1970’lerde tartışılmaya başlanan, 1993 yılında yürürlüğe giren Maastricht Anlaşması ile kurumsallaşan Avrupa Yurttaşlığı ilkesi, ulus-devletin dışında ve ötesinde bir vatandaşlık yaratılmasını amaçlayan tek deneyimdir. Avrupa’daki bütünleşme süreci, başlangıcından bu yana Avrupa halklarının dışında ve üzerinde gerçekleşmektedir. AB politikalarının halktan kopuk bir şekilde gerçekleştirilmesi, AB üyesi ülke vatandaşlarını giderek AB politikalarından uzaklaştırmıştır. Bu durumun somut yansımaları; Avrupa Parlamentosu seçimlerine katılım oranlarının düşmesi, AB ile ilgili halk oylamalarında olumsuz oy kullanma eğilimlerinin artması ve AB’nin daha çok sorgulanması gibi örneklerde görülmektedir. Durumu fark eden Avrupa eliti, bir yandan halklara “Avrupalı ” hissettirmek için ortak pasaport, öğrenci/öğretmen değişim sistemleri, ulusal parlamentoların güçlendirilmesi, anayasa oluşturma çalışmaları gibi kimlik yaratmaya yönelik girişimlerde bulunmaktadırlar. Diğer taraftan ise, bu girişimlerin sekteye uğramaması için, bu yönde ısrar eden vatandaşların varlığına rağmen, Lizbon Anlaşması örneğindeki gibi, halk oylamalarına gidilmemektedir. Aslında pratikteki amacı, AB eliti ile vatandaşlar arasındaki bağı güçlendirerek Avrupa politikalarının daha geniş bir alanda meşruiyetinin sağlanması olan Avrupa Yurttaşlığı, başka nedenlerin yanında, uygulamadaki demokratik yoksunluk sebebiyle de gerçekleşememektedir. Öte yandan yurttaşlık, devleti oluşturan öğelerden biridir. Hâlbuki bugün Avrupa’da bir devlet yoktur.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Yurttaşlık Avrupa Entegrasyonu Avrupa Kimliği Lizbon Anlaşması Demokrasi Açığı
Ayrıntılar
| Diğer ID | JA62UA39YF |
|---|---|
| Bölüm | Makaleler |
| Yazarlar | |
| Yayımlanma Tarihi | 1 Aralık 2009 |
| Yayımlandığı Sayı | Yıl 2009 Cilt: 11 Sayı: 3 |