Luuk van der Baaren States (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Spain) have distinct provisions for the acquisition of citizenship by a spouse or partner of a citizen (A08), of which four (Bulgaria, Croatia, the Netherlands and Spain) do not require that the spouse or partner renounces his or her original citizenship. Out of the four restrictive Member States (Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Latvia and Spain) that have a special provision for citizens of particular states (A18), all states except Austria exempt these groups from the renunciation requirement. In Germany, citizens of an EU Member State or Switzerland are exempted from the renunciation requirement. This also the case in Bulgaria and Latvia, although Latvia additionally exempts citizens from NATO Member States, as well as Australia, Brazil and New Zealand. Spain exempts citizens of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal. Seven restrictive states have a distinct provision for the acquisition of citizenship by recognised refugees, and all of these states exempt this group from the renunciation requirement. Lastly, nine restrictive Member States have a distinct provision for naturalisation on the basis of extraordinary achievements (A24), all of which except the Netherlands exempt these persons from the renunciation requirement. For Austria, Bulgaria and Slovenia, this is also the case for persons who acquire citizenship on the basis of economic contributions (A26). In five restrictive Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Lithuania and Spain), special provisions are in place for persons who are considered to be culturally affiliated to the respective country (A19). In all cases, these persons are exempted from the renunciation requirement. All in all, this overview illustrates that countries that seemingly take a restrictive stance on dual citizenship provide numerous exceptions to this main rule. 1.2.2 Loss of citizenship upon the acquisition of a foreign citizenship (L05) In nine EU Member States (Austria, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Spain), the acquisition of a foreign citizenship can result in the loss of citizenship. Only in Slovakia is this provision absolute. The other eight states provide exceptions to their main rule. These exceptions are most extensive in Estonia and Ireland, as Estonian citizens by birth are constitutionally protected from involuntary loss of citizenship, which means that the loss provision is only applicable to a minority of Estonian citizens.14 The Irish loss provision is only applicable to citizens by naturalisation. In Germany, Latvia and Spain, citizens who obtain the citizenship of certain states are exempted from the loss provision. Germany provides an exemption for citizens who acquire the citizenship of an EU Member State or Switzerland, while Latvia also exempts citizens from EEA- and NATO Member States, as well as Australia, Brazil and New Zealand. Spain exempts citizens who acquire or retain the citizenship of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal. Importantly, the loss of Spanish citizenship can only occur if a Spanish citizen has resided abroad for a period of at least three years, and the loss of citizenship can be prevented by making a declaration within that period. In the Netherlands, a person who resides in the country where he or she was born and obtains the citizenship of that particular country is exempted from the loss of Dutch citizenship. This is also the case for a person who obtains citizenship of a country where he or she has resided for a period of at least five years during minority and for a person who acquires the citizenship that his or her spouse holds. The exceptions are not applicable to Dutch citizens who obtain Austrian citizenship, as both the Netherlands and Austria are (the last remaining) parties of the Second Chapter of the 1963 Strasbourg Convention Reduction of Cases of Multiple Nationality and Austria has not ratified 14 Art. 8 Constitution of the Republic of Estonia 1992. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-Comp. 2020/4 - © 2020 Authors 5