Nationality and Identity Issues-A Danish Perspective

Abstract

According to the European Convention on Nationality (1997), nationality-or the term “citizenship” used as synonymous with nationality-means a legal bond between a person and a state. As such, nationality is linked to nation building. Nationality can also be defined as equal membership in a political community, and as a status to which rights and duties, participatory practices and a sense of national identity are attached. In other words, nationality constitutes an important element of a person's identity.European Union citizenship is linked to nationality in an EU Member State. Union citizenship grants rights to the Member State nationals and may be defined as membership in a larger political community, the EU. Union citizenship is meant to foster a feeling of European identity. The third report of the Commission on Citizenship of the Union described citizenship as “both a source of legitimation of the process of European integration, by reinforcing the participation of citizens, and a fundamental factor in the creation among citizens of a sense of belonging to the European Union and of having a genuine European identity.”