64 D. Kostakopoulou both real and imagined, and the crossings that take place continuously around us? Can we afford to become the subterfuge of a historical process that robs us of judgment? 3) The road travelled thus far Having to decide which trajectory to follow with respect to voting rights in national elections and to reflect on the concerns outlined by the contributors to this debate is not without precedent. It is important to remember that in the 1970s and 1980s the same debate took place with respect the so-called ‘special rights’, which included the right of Community nationals to vote and to stand as a candidate in local elections in the member state of residence. ‘Equal treatment of Union citizens in the political field’, ‘strengthening the feeling of belonging to one legal community’, ‘complete assimilation with nationals as regards political rights’, ‘creating a people’s Europe’ and ‘responding the expectations of Community nationals’ were the rationales underpinning the grant of local electoral rights to EU citizens without a prior activation of national naturalisation procedures. Brave thinking at that time captured the dilemmas, weighed member states’ concerns and, following such reflections and negotiations, the option that was favoured was ‘special rights’ rather than naturalisation because it was important that Community nationals were treated in host member states as if they were citizens of those states. Promoting greater equality with nationals was more beneficial than the opening up of the naturalisation gates because ‘the emphasis should remain on residence rather than nationality.’2 And in the mid-1970s, national electorates’ opposition to such an idea was considered, too. As the Commission stated at that time, ‘equal treatment of foreigners in the economic and social fields is accepted by public opinion, since this has long been a subject for frequent negotiation between States, the same does not apply to equal treatment of foreigners in the political field. This is a new idea and the public will have to be given an opportunity to get used to it.’3 Additionally, when the Treaty on European Union entered into force, several MS continued to resist the implementation of what was then Article 8b(EC). In fact, by January 1997 of the fifteen member states only eight had made the grant of local electoral rights for EU citizens a reality. Fears of 2 3 Commission of the European Communities (1975), Towards European Citizenship, Bull. EC, Supplement 7, 32. Commission of the European Communities (1975), Towards European Citizenship, 30