European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

72 EUROPEAN IDENTITY. INDIVIDUAL, GROUP AND SOCIETYcitizenship 4 , for every person who is a citizen of a Member State, consideringEuropean citizenship a complement to and not a replacement fornational citizenship.This concept of citizenship is completely different from the classicalone which considers it as an anchored (inseparable) juridical conditionwhen being a part of a State: in fact, the Union per se as yet is not aState; moreover, European and national citizenship co-exist (for which theTreaties do not establish criteria given that this is obtained automatically).One can also speak of dual, not to be confused with double,citizenship. This phenomenon occurs when an individual simultaneouslyholds citizenship status of two or more States.In Chapter V of the Charter of Fundamental Rights the concept ofcitizenship is also contemplated and the following rights are set forth:the right of access to documents and the right to good administrationor good governance (which turns out to be an innovation of theCharter itself).Today there is also a broad concept of citizenship.The Minister for Community Policies, Buttiglione, has offered anargument for the bonds that grant identity, sovereignty, and citizenship,citing Lord Ralph Darendorf, for whom a European demos per sedoes not exist; nonetheless, if it does exist, it is necessary to draft aConstitution.The European demos exists for somebody, but it is sui generis.The demos of classical Greek culture is the result of a sinicism(which means living together) and of procuring a temple as a centrearound which recognition is obtained. In Athens languages were equal,in Rome they were distinct: European sinicism refers to this lattermodel, and it is in evolution. There are European citizens and Italiancitizens: one cannot be European without also being a citizen of one ofthe States belonging to Europe. This suggests the idea of federalism 5 .4The rights that are traditionally conferred on European citizens are:—the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States;—the right to vote and stand as a candidate in municipal elections as well as inelections to the European Parliament in the Member State of residence;—the right to diplomatic and consular protection of any Member State in theterritory of a third country in which the Member State of which he is a national isnot represented;—the right to petition the European Parliament;—the right to complain to the European Ombudsman.5Sovereignty according to J. Locke is never totally lost: simply speaking, it is onlypartially abdicated, an abdication which is necessary due to the mere fact of being amember of a community. Nowadays, the concept is divided qualitatively (one only