STATELESSNESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL VALUE OF UNION CITIZENSHIP ANNE BREKOO * Nearly half a million people find themselves stateless within the Member States of the European Union. Lacking an overarching mechanism to address statelessness and its consequences at the EU level, the problem remains. In a different citizenship context, however, the EU has demonstrated that it is capable of devising a framework of rights that transcends national boundaries: citizenship of the EU. With the aim of inspiring renewed debates on, and reconsideration of, the institution of EU citizenship as a potential approach to mitigating the human impact of statelessness, this article examines the value that EU citizenship might have for stateless persons. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction............................................................................................................. 24 Concepts and Definitions: Statelessness, Nationality and Citizenship ................... 26 Statelessness in the EU and the Potential Value of EU Citizenship ....................... 29 A Numbers and Causes .................................................................................. 29 B EU Citizenship: Scope and Nature ............................................................. 32 C The Impact of Statelessness and the Value of EU Citizenship ................... 34 Moving from the Hypothetical to Reality: An Assessment .................................... 39 A The Competence Question ......................................................................... 39 B Realising a Reformed EU Citizenship: Possibilities and Obstacles ........... 40 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 41 INTRODUCTION Statelessness, referring to the lack of a nationality, has been characterised as a ‘forgotten human rights crisis’, having only received limited attention from key actors on a national, regional and global level. 1 The European Union constitutes, in that sense, no exception. While fundamental rights have been placed at the heart of the EU, and the individual at the heart of its activities by means of EU citizenship, 2 one of the most structural rights issues has largely escaped its attention for decades and remains unaddressed. The lack of interest and action at this level is problematic, as roughly half a million stateless persons reside in the * 1 2 Anne Brekoo holds a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences: Law in an International Context from University College Tilburg. She is currently pursuing an Advanced Master of Science in International Relations and Diplomacy at the University of Leiden in cooperation with the Clingendael Institute, as well as an Master of Arts in Military Strategic Studies at the Dutch Defence Academy. This article is an amended version of her Bachelor’s thesis. Lindsey Kingston, ‘“A Forgotten Human Rights Crisis”: Statelessness and Issue (Non)Emergence’ (2013) 14(2) Human Rights Review 73. This is not to take away from the enormous effort dedicated by civil society and other organisations to raise attention for the issue. Yet, regardless of this increased attention — though not necessarily on the state level — the human impact of stateless remains the same and therefore worthy of examination. See Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union [2000] OJ C364/01, preamble 2 (‘EU Charter’).