Jules Lepoutre proportionality of the measure (see below 3.2.3. for the K2 v. The United Kingdom case, and 3.2.4. for the Ramadan v. Malta case). This report analyses, from a legal perspective, the diversity of legislation in Member States, and what binds them together, i.e., European and international legal obligations. Previous literature on the same topic includes the report on “Loss of Nationality” in the EU published by Harald Waldrauch in 2006,5 the report on “Loss of Citizenship: Trends and Regulations in Europe” written by Gérard-René de Groot and Marteen P. Vink in 2010,6 and the guidelines of the Involuntary Loss of European Citizenship Project (ILEC Guidelines) published in 2015.7 This report includes the United Kingdom’s legislation and policies. The analysis is mainly based on the GLOBALCIT Database on Modes of Loss of Citizenship. The primary sources of this report consist of legislation of Member States. The aim is to bring together the information provided by the database, and to examine the trends, similarities and differences among Member States. The ambition is not to make recommendations, or to suggest improvements, nor to offer a critique. In this respect, the ILEC Guidelines constitute a persuasive and exhaustive work that this report fully endorses. The six main categories that this report follows in order to analyse nationality loss in the EU are partly based on ILEC Guidelines, and divided between voluntary and involuntary loss: renunciation; possession of another nationality; residence abroad; disloyalty or lack of merit; fraud and similar acts; loss linked to family relationship. The terms ‘citizenship’ and ‘nationality’ are considered synonymous, both referring to the legal bond between a state and an individual. 2. Voluntary Loss of Citizenship 2.1. Introduction: Allegiance is No Longer Perpetual 2.1.1. Origin of Voluntary Loss Until the 19th century, nationality law in common law countries was subject to the principle “Nemo Potest Exuere Patriam” – ‘No one can cast off his country.’ Following this principle, allegiance of the subject to the Monarch was supposed to be perpetual; it was therefore impossible to relinquish nationality. The famous Calvin’s Case decided in 1608 clearly established that the “natural ligeance” (Ligeantia Naturalis) ��� “due by nature and birth-right” – is “immutable” meaning perpetual, for the very reason that this link between the King and his subjects comes from the law of nature, and therefore cannot be changed.8 In the 18th century, Blackstone wrote accordingly in his Commentaries that “it is a principle of universal law, that the natural-born subject of one prince cannot by any act of his own, no, not by swearing allegiance to another, put off or discharge his natural allegiance to the former.” 9 This 5 Waldrauch, H. (2006). “Loss of Nationality.” In Acquisition and Loss of Nationality, Policies and Trends in 15 European Countries, Volume 1: Comparative Analyses, edited by R. Bauböck, E. Ersbøll, K. Groenendijk, and H. Waldrauch, 183219. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. See also, on a normative perspective, Bauböck, R., and V. Paskalev (2015). “Cutting Genuine Links: A Normative Analysis of Citizenship Deprivation.” Georgetown Journal of Immigration Law, 30(1), 47-104. 6 De Groot, G.-R. and M., P., Vink, (2010). Loss of Citizenship. Trends and Regulations in Europe. EUDO Citizenship Observatory [GLOBALCIT], Comparative Reports, 2010/04. Retrieved from here. See also the Policy Brief based on the report: De Groot, G.-R, M., P. Vink, and I. Honohan (2011). Loss of citizenship. EUDO Citizenship [GLOBALCIT], Policy Briefs, 2011/03. Retrieved from here. 7 Carrera Nuñez, S. and G.-R. de Groot (2015). European Citizenship at the Crossroads. The Role of the European Union on Loss and Acquisition of Nationality. Oisterwijk: Wolf Legal Publishers. 8 Calvin’s Case (1608), 77 ER 377, here 383 and 394. 9 Blackstone, W. (1765-1769). Commentaries on the Laws of England. Book the First, The Rights of Persons. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 357. 2 Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Working Papers