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Examine the french and German ideas of citizenship. to what extent do they provide a model for the idea of a European 'citizen'?

Article 17 of the Treaty establishing the European Community provides:

"Citizenship of the Union is hereby established. Every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union. Citizenship of the Union shall complement and not replace national citizenship."

The 'European Citizen' is thus a curious hybrid: possession of this status complements original nationality rather than displacing it. At the same time, qualification as a citizen of Europe depends upon citizenship of the home state, the criteria for establishing which will almost inevitably vary from state to state. The curious effect that this is capable of having upon the composition of the citizenry of the Union can be demonstrated by a comparison of the citizenship models of France and Germany where the fact of belonging to disparate national traditions results in qualification for membership of what should be a homogenous European group.

France and Germany - Jus Soli v. Jus Sanguinis?

Brubaker regards France and Germany, locked together for two centuries in a "fateful position" at the centre of Europe, as having constructed "distinctive, even antagonistic" models of nationhood and national self understanding. He summarises (at p.1):

"If the French understanding of nationhood has been state-centred and assimilationist, the German understanding has been Volk-centred and differentialist."

The French model is dominated by the concept of jus soli whereby citizenship is accorded to children born in France of foreign parent but growing up in that country. Germany gives pre-eminence to the concept of jus sanguinis in which children acquire at birth the nationality of their parents. Germany rejects jus soli arguing that Germany cannot and should not become a multinational state as a result of the large-scale collective assimilation of immigrants but excepts from this apparent hostility to the incorporation of immigrants as citizens those from areas such as Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union who are regarded as ethnically German.

Historical Roots

Perhaps inevitably, the French approach to citizenship was shaped by the philosophies underpinning the Revolution. The Ancien Régime distinguished between those born within the kingdom and those born outside (aubain). The King was entitled to the property of foreigners who died in France without direct French heirs (droit d'aubaine). The Revolutionaries preferred a citizenship model based upon political affiliation rather than ethnicity, abolished the droit d'aubaine, and invited foreign 'Friends of Liberty' to join the French State. A decree of 1792 conferred citizenship upon foreigners who had demonstrated loyalty to the principles of the Revolution. Further, the Constitution of 1791 provided that children born in France of foreign parents had the right to become citizens if they lived in France. Further citizenship legislation culminating in 1889 automatically attributed citizenship to second-generation immigrants; this legislation remains largely unchanged today. By contrast, the German concept of nationhood was born of Romanticism, initially a literary movement which saw nations as defined by distinctive national feeling (Volkgeist) expressed in language, culture and customs . The unification of the German states under Bismarck gave rise to the concept that citizenship of the German Empire (Reichsangehörigkeit) would be awarded solely on the basis of descent. Concern over the effects of immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries gave rise to a revision of German citizenship law in 1913 which allowed the preservation of German citizenship by Germans living abroad, allowed former German citizens and their descendants living abroad to reacquire citizenship and even encouraged the naturalisation of ethnic German immigrants while restricting that of non-Germans. Thus, while German citizenship law remained based heavily upon jus sanguinis, the French model of jus soli was specifically eschewed.

Becoming a Citizen - Attribution and Acquisition

The rejection by Germany of jus soli cannot be said to be mirrored by a corresponding shunning of jus sanguinis in France. Under Article 18 of the Civil Code, citizenship is automatically given to the legitimate or illegitimate child of at least one French parent. Similarly, a child born abroad of foreign parents is a citizen if at least one of the parents was born in France. This has led to the attribution of citizenship to many second-generation immigrants particularly having regard to the status of Algeria as part of France prior to its independence. Thus the children of immigrants from pre-independent Algeria are automatically French citizens (although since 1993 this has been conditional upon residence of at least 5 years). The German Constitution with its emphasis upon jus sanguinis provides some interesting implications for those who in the eyes of another nation state might be regarded as foreign nationals without more. Article 116 provides that "everyone is German in the eyes of the Constitution…who holds German citizenship or who, as a refugee or expelled of German Volkszugehörigkeit, or as a spouse or dependant of such a person, has been admitted to the territory of the German Reich as it existed on December 31 1937." Thus, "citizens" of the former East Germany are accorded citizenship without the need for naturalisation since that state was never recognised by the Federal German Republic as such. Similarly, ethnic "Germans" arriving in the country since the break-up of the former Soviet Union are so recognised.

A person can acquire citizenship was declaration or naturalisation. Persons born in France of foreign parents can acquire citizenship between the ages of 16 and 21 by declaration. Adults resident in France for five years can become naturalised subject to the satisfaction of further conditions including linguistic competence, assimilation in the community, good character and a medical. In stark contrast, naturalisation in Germany was exceptional and would only be granted in the public interest against the background of the explicit public policy principle that Germany did not intend to increase the number of its citizens by this process.

Impact of and upon Immigration

The foreign population of Germany from outside the EU is some 7% of the total population with the largest groups being from Turkey and the former Yugoslavia. Initially, foreign nationals were admitted only as guest workers (Gastarbeiter) with an expectation that they would return home at the end of their employment contracts. However, as such contracts became extended and families joined the breadwinner, Germany became in reality a country of immigration. It is arguable that this pressure "from below" together with the drive for European harmonisation "from above" gave rise to the reforms discussed below. Similarly, France frequently imported workers not only from neighbouring states but also from its former colonies in West Africa. However, given France's emphasis upon loyalty to the state as opposed to ethnicity, assimilation has been a far less painful process.

German Reforms - Bowing to the Inevitable…or to Europe?

Germany adopted a new citizenship and nationality law on 1st January 2000. The reform of the law governing the naturalisation of foreign nationals was one of the first measures of major social reform with a European dimension enacted by the new Government under Chancellor Schröder. The German Embassy (London) website proudly proclaims in terms:

"The new law substantially changes the principle of descent (jus sanguinis) which has long been the country's traditional basis for granting citizenship. Now it will be possible to acquire German citizenship as a result of being born in Germany (jus soli) as is the case in most other European countries."

However, this commentary also recognises the reality of some seven million foreigners living in Germany on a long term basis and the need to integrate them into the community. It points out, perhaps a little chillingly that "this offer to facilitate the integration of foreign nationals…also involves obligations" including the learning of German and submission to the Basic Law, Germany's Constitution - an eloquent statement, it might be argued, of the post-Revolutionary French model!

Conclusion - "European Citizen"; Chicken or Egg?

To what extent, therefore, is it possible to regard either the French or the German model as the blueprint for the new Citizen of Europe? The traditional and long-standing emphasis of Germany upon ethnicity (which has historically produced the arguably perverse effect of automatically regarding residents of certain other nations as German citizens) can hardly be said to accord with the multicultural inclusivity of the so-called European Super-State. France, with its emphasis upon allegiance to the ideals of the Republic has undoubtedly been more inclusive and assimilationist. However, it may be argued that neither approach supplies the key to understanding the aspirations of the Community as to individual membership nor the expectations to which Citizens of Europe are subject. The insistence in Article 17 of the EC Treaty that citizenship is complementary to that of a Member State lacks the exclusivity of either model. Brubaker (Op. Cit., p.187) argues that Western Europe is currently moving beyond the nation-state. Thus, even if the French and German definitions of citizenship were to remain opposed, national citizenship may wane in significance. Just as the powers of the nation-state are being eroded from above, national citizenship may be replaced on the one hand by more localised concepts of citizenship on a subnational basis and, more particularly by the supranational citizenship that will characterise the post-national Europe of the future.

Bibliography

Brubaker, R., Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany, (1992)

Bousetta, H., DEBATE, Citizenship and Immigration, Merger, Newsletter of the Migration and Ethnic Relations Group for European Research, www.ercomer.org/merger/vol3no3/debate.html

Devynck, A., Citizenship in a Historical Perspective, ECPR Conference; Denmark 14-19 April 2000

Wistrich, E., Immigration, Migrants and Citizenship in Europe, The Federal Trust, European Essay No.19, www.fedtrust.co.uk/uploads/Essays/Essay_19.pdf

www.europa.eu.int

www.german-embassy.org.uk

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