Citizenship Loss and Deprivation in the European Union (27 + 1) for terrorist activities.34 The United Kingdom extended its legislation about nationality revocation in 2014, in order to soften the principle of statelessness prevention when vital interests are at stake (see below, 3.1.2.). The Netherlands also extended its law in 2015 to denationalise “individuals above the age of 16 whose conduct indicates that they have joined a terrorist organisation whilst residing outside the Netherlands,” in order to legally prevent their return on national soil.35 Reports show that this new provision has been used at least ten times by the government.36 In 2016, Bulgaria, changed the time period during which the government can issue a deprivation order. From five years, legislators decided to extend it to an unlimited period in case of terrorism to authorise the government to revoke a naturalisation at any time. This trend is now rapidly spreading, with Member States not only extending their legislation, but also creating laws specifically designed for terrorist activities and foreign fighters. In 2018, Italy created new provisions targeting naturalised citizens convicted for terrorist activities, without any formal prohibition of statelessness.37 Germany created new rules in 2019 to target its citizens fighting alongside foreign terrorist groups (see below, 3.1.2.). Finland introduced a new case for nationality revocation in 2019, targeting Finnish citizens who are sentenced to five years of imprisonment for treason, high treason, or terrorist crime. Interior Minister Kai Mykkänen pointed out, however, that the plan was not to “prevent the return of nationals who’ve left the country to fight among the ranks of ISIS”; this new law was supposed to send a “signal” without interfering with the repatriation of Finns who fought for ISIS.38 Finally, Denmark extended its legislation in 2019 to target foreign fighters and change the revocation procedure – from a court decision to a governmental order. Prime Minister Frederiksen clearly stated that this piece of legislation was meant to target disloyal citizens who “are unwanted in Denmark” and that “[t]he government will therefore do everything possible, to prevent them from returning to Denmark.”39 This legislation has already been used at least twice to revoke Danish nationality of two individuals fighting for ISIS.40 Three Case Studies: UK, Germany and France The policies of three Member States will be analysed further, as they exemplify current trends: the United Kingdom, as the leading country in Europe in the use of banishment through nationality revocation; Germany, as a new country joining the trend, despite a robust constitutional framework against nationality deprivation; France, as the only country where plans to extend nationality revocation failed because of strong opposition that demanded the protection of liberal principles. The United Kingdom is probably the leading country among liberal democracies to use nationality revocation as a way to banish its citizens suspected of, or convicted for, terrorist activities. This policy is based on two mechanisms. The first one is section 40(2) of the 1981 British Nationality Act (BNA) which states that “[t]he Secretary of State may by order deprive a person of a citizenship status if the Secretary of State is satisfied that deprivation is conducive to the public good” – section 40(4) providing 34 Aghadadashov, J. (27 March 2017). “Austria Firstly Stripped Off Citizenship a Man for ISIS Links.” Report News Agency. Retrieved from here. 35 Boekestein, T., L. and G. R. de Groot (2019). “Discussing the Human Rights Limits on Loss of Citizenship: a NormativeLegal Perspective on Egalitarian Arguments Regarding Dutch Nationality Laws Targeting Dutch-Moroccans.” Citizenship Studies, 23(4), 323. 36 Ibid., 325. 37 Vedaschi, A. and C. Graziani (29 January 2019). “Citizenship Revocation in Italy as a Counter-Terrorism Measure.” VerfBlog. Retrieved from here. 38 “Finland Won’t Strip Citizenship from ISIS Fighters, Minister Says.” (20 February 2019). Yle. Retrieved from here. 39 Skydsgaard, N. (14 October 2019). “Denmark to Strip Foreign Fighters of Danish Citizenship.” Reuters. Retrieved from here. 40 “Denmark Strips 2 ISIS Adherents of Citizenship Under New Law.” (26 November 2019). The Defense Post. Retrieved from here. European University Institute 9