Toothless European Citizenship / Šimon Uradnik

of the Member State concerned.’; 28 and that ‘citizenship of the Union is a political and legal concept which is entirely different from the concept of citizenship within the meaning of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark and of the Danish legal system. Nothing in the Treaty on European Union implies or foresees an undertaking to create a citizenship of the Union in the sense of citizenship of a nation-state. The question of Denmark participating in any such development does, therefore, not arise.’ 29 After the summit of the European leaders in Edinburgh, Denmark’s demands for opt-out were noted in Protocol No 22 of the Treaty on EU, and the Declaration on nationality of a Member State 30 repeated that also. The second plebiscite consequently resulted in 56.7% in favour, 31 and the Treaty of Maastricht was ratified. Notwithstanding little difficulties of the French government with the enforcement of a constitutional amendment necessary to the implementation of Union citizenship and, hence, a tight victory in favour, 32 all other referenda and ratifications across the Union passed after all. 33 1.1.2 Jurisprudence in Beginnings of Union Citizenship On the other hand, a significant number of legal scholars 34 perceived citizenship of the Union only as a purely decorative icing on the Treaty which, in fact, did not add anything essential or new that had not existed before. 35 The reason behind this approach, amongst others, 28 ‘Denmark and the Treaty on European Union’ [1992] OJ C 348 Section A, Citizenship. 29 Ibid Annex 3. 30 Treaty on European Union [1992] OJ C 191, Declaration on nationality of a Member State. 31 Palle Svensson, ‘The Danish Yes to Maastricht and Edinburgh. The EC Referendum of May 1993’ (1994) 17/1 Scandinavian Political Studies 75. 32 The primal problem for France emerged in the content of Union citizenship’s rights, specifically in the right of Union citizens to vote in municipal and European elections in their state of residence because it would have required a constitutional amendment which, however, was supported by the president Mitterrand who saw great potential in European citizenship — not only for Europe but also for France as he discovered that this issue might cause a division of the opposition, which in the end happened. To that effect, see Willem Maas, Creating European Citizens (Rowman & Littlefield 2007) 50. 33 For a more detailed depiction of the history and evolution of the Treaty of Maastricht ratifications in each Member State, see ibid 52−59. 34 Exempli gratia , see Michelle Everson, Hans U. J. d’Oliveira, or Percy B. Lehning; for that purpose, see Dora Kostakopoulou, ‘The Evolution of European Union Citizenship’ (2008) University of Manchester School of Law Symposium accessed 28 th February 2023. 35 Except of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate at municipal elections and in

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