On Modes of Acquisition and Loss of Nationality The European Union Democracy Observatory on Citizenship Typology

Abstract

In 2013 European Union Democracy Observatory (EUDO) Citizenship completed an eighteenth-month research project called 'Access to Citizenship and its Impact on Immigrant Integration' (ACIT), which 'compared how European states regulate the acquisition of citizenship and the impact of citizenship on the socio-economic and political participation of immigrants'. One of the innovative features of ACIT in comparison with the 'modes of acquisition database' is in fact the normative assessment made, that is, countries are given a score on a scale from 0 to 1 based on the inclusiveness of their policies as regards the acquisition of citizenship. This chapter provides an elaborate schematic overview of the twenty-seven 'modes of acquisition' and fifteen 'modes of loss' as developed by EUDO Citizenship. The 1969 Convention was the first regional instrument to reaffirm the universal promise of Article 15 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) of the right to nationality.Keywords: acquisition database; European Union Democracy Observatory (EUDO) Citizenship; nationality legislation; Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR)