Toothless European Citizenship / Šimon Uradnik

of immigrants would be rightful members of their nation. Ius soli aims to strengthen the connection between an individual and a territory of the state, but, in this day and age, it rather symbolises the openness of the state towards newcomers as better status is guaranteed for their children. The rationale behind different approaches and provisions amongst different states in terms of acquisition ex lege also derives from the fact of globalisation, thus, from the cross-national mobility of people. Were it not for that, an individual — who was born in a certain state to parents who had been born in that same state — would remain national of that state all his or her life. 182 3.1.1.2 Acquisition ex actu The acquisition ex actu , ergo, an acquisition by an act or acting contains a Pleiades of various rules such as aforementioned ius sanguinis and ius soli , however, also ius familias — the right of family ties, ius meriti — the right of merits, and many others. The purpose of this kind of acquisition is to open the gates of exclusive legal status to individuals who have not had parents, after whom they would be granted nationality, or who were not born in the territory of the state of their residence, or who find themselves in a state of statelessness, and who, at the same time, do yearn for such status and are capable of meeting the qualified conditions. The acquisition ex actu is usually grounded on ius soli since states ordinally require a specific period of time of residence in their territory in order to grant nationality, behind which there is an idea that ‘residency within a bounded place creates a bond between a person and a state’. 183 Access to this acquisition tends to be simplified by ius familias — for individuals whose close family members or spouses do already possess the nationality of that state — states are aware that families are their cornerstones, wherefore they recognise these types of links transfers. 184 Notwithstanding ius familias originating in the doctrine of the ‘dependent nationality’ — married women’s status followed their husbands’ nationality — which was in force in Europe until the First World War; 185 nowadays, it may serve as a substitute for ius 182 Patrick Weil, ‘Access to citizenship: A comparison of twenty-five nationality laws’ in T Alexander Aleinikoff and Douglas Klusmeyer (eds), Citizenship Today: Global Perspectives and Practices (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 2001) 19. 183 Ashley Mantha-Hollands and Jelena Dzankic, ‘Ties that bind and unbind: charting the boundaries of European Union citizenship’ (2022) 49/9 Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 2094. 184 Ibid. 185 Leti Volpp, ‘Feminist, Sexual, and Queer Citizenship’ in Ayelet Shachar and Rainer

47