Shaping Citizenship in a Globalized World The Survival of National Identities
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Abstract
Citizenship and membership in a nation state may constitute a significant element of identity. Every society looks for the legitimacy of the principles governing it within its own origins. Therefore, cultural diversity is synonymous with juridical and ethical difference, which can range from the recognition of several sources of legitimacy of law to a different relationship between these sources. In the legal sphere, each society’s constant pursuit of its own origins has its greatest expression in the rules of citizenship chosen. For example, the provision of citizenship tests within the EU Member States’ naturalization policies bears witness to this attitude, strengthening the requirements to obtain the citizenship. In fact, during the last decade, the European Union has experienced the rise of test-based forms of integration and this indicates the adaptation of the legal system to increasing flows of migration. Similarly, in the Middle East, the State of Israel represents a paradigmatic case of how the survival of cultural ties is nowadays maintained in granting citizenship. This also highlights how the national law adapts to the historical context in order to allow the respect of economic, political and social rights. Against the perceived Jewish diaspora, indeed, the State of Israel established the Law of Return (ḥok ha-shvūt), namely every Jew has the right to return and obtain, along with citizenship, other facilities to rebuild his life there (‘aliyah). Could these two approaches from Western Europe and the Middle East testify to a strong state sovereignty in choosing their ideal citizens? In conclusion, the purpose of the paper is to show how naturalization policies are deeply influenced by historical, cultural and social elements. Could therefore these naturalization systems be considered anachronistic in the context of the XXI century globalized world?
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Security Decree-Law converted into Law 2018, art 9 para 1. This law concerns urgent provisions on international protection and immigration, public security, as well as measures for the functioning of the Ministry of the Interior and the organization and functioning of the National Agency for the Administration and Destination of Assets Seized and Confiscated from Organized Crime. Moreover, the new decree adopted by the Ministry of the Interior in agreement with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Universities and Research on 7 December 2021 deals with the procedures for carrying out the Italian language knowledge test, which must be passed before an EU long-term residence permit can be issued (Legislative Decree 286/98, article 9 para 2-bis). The decree introduces the following novelties concerning the recognized certifying bodies that issue certificates of knowledge of the Italian language certifying a level of knowledge not lower than level A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages approved by the Council of Europe: 1. Removed reference to bodies recognised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; 2. There are now five recognised bodies (previously four), namely: Università degli studi di Roma Tre, Università per stranieri di Perugia, Università per stranieri di Siena, Società Dante Alighieri, Università per stranieri Dante Alighieri di Reggio Calabria; and 3. The Ministry of Universities and Research will issue a decree setting out the procedures for accreditation, verification and monitoring of compliance with the quality requirements for the issue of Italian language certificates by further institutions.
Czech Citizenship Act 2013, s 14 para 4, s 19 para g, and s 70. The Czech Citizenship Act No. 186 of 2013 replaces all previous nationality legislation (Act No. 40/1993 concerning the acquisition and loss of nationality of the Czech Republic as amended, and Act No. 193/1999 concerning the nationality of certain former Czechoslovak nationals as amended).
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See Circular Letter No. 61 of 22 September 2008 on Danish naturalization <https://www.legislationline.org/download/id/6532/file/Denmark_Circular_Letter_Naturalisation_2008_eng.pdf>.
The restriction to DT3 resulted from the agreement of 22 September 2008 between the government and the Danish People’s Party on the handling of the EU-legislation on free movement (Section 4.1).
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Especially during Fourth Aliyah (1924–1929), when Jews arrived in the Land of Israel, many as a result of increasing anti-Semitism in Poland and throughout Europe, mostly from Romania, and Lithuania. Also on the occasion of the Fifth Aliyah (1929–1939), with the rise of Nazism in Germany, a new wave of immigrants arrived; the majority of these arrived from Central Europe. Some Jewish immigrants also came from other countries such as Turkey, Iran, and Yemen.
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Amal Jamal, “Nationalizing States and the Constitution of ‘Hollow Citizenship’: Israel and its Palestinian Citizens” [2007] Ethnopolitics 471. Jamal, examining the relationship between the Israeli state and its Arab-Palestinian minority, aims at emphasizing that political, economic and cultural policies often hollow out the citizenship of national minorities, leaving it meaningless.
Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) 2003.
See <https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/why-is-the-citizenship-law-dividing-the-govt-explainer-672967> accessed 2 May 2022.
Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law 2003, Explanatory Notes s 5: the provisions of the proposed law are stated as an emergency provision for one year. However, it is proposed to allow the government to extend them from time to time, each time for one additional year, in accordance with the state’s security needs.
See <https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/why-is-the-citizenship-law-dividing-the-govt-explainer-672967> accessed 2 May 2022.
See <https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-deal-on-citizenship-law-may-grant-israel-residency-to-hundreds-of-palestinians-1.9972128> accessed 2 May 2022.
Ingrid Piller, “Naturalization language testing and its basis in ideologies of national identity and citizenship” [2001] 259 <https://doi.org/10.1177%2F13670069010050030201> accessed 11 May 2022.
The example of Malta and Cyprus can be considered. See Maltese Exceptional Investor Naturalization (MEIN), 20 November 2020, which replaced the Malta Individual Investor Programme (MIIP), 13 November 2013. See also the case of Cyprus, which since November 2020 has suspended its Cyprus Citizenship by Investment Programme, 19 March 2014, due to the European Commission Infringement Procedure, 20 October 2020 [INFR(2020)2301]. These two cases of Golden Passports programs are paradigmatic if considering that they have aroused and continue to arouse reactions from the European Union. In fact, the European Parliament has taken a firm stand against the sale of European common principles and values to the best investor (see Resolution of 16 January 2014 on ‘EU citizenship for sale’ [2013/2995(RSP) <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2014-0038_EN.pdf> accessed 26 April 2022]. Even the European Commission has considered investment-based naturalization programs as the black hole of Europe, which weaken the essence of European citizenship and have implications for the Union as a whole [See ‘Investor Citizenship and Residence Schemes in the European Union’ COM(2019) of 23 January 2019 <https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/com_2019_12_final_report.pdf > accessed 10 May 2022].