Expulsion and EU citizenship

Although EU citizenship is described as destined to become the fundamental status of the nationals of the Member States, EU law allows the expulsion of EU citizens and their family members from their host Member State, if certain conditions are met. The working paper is divided into three parts. Part I starts by looking at the relationship between EU citizenship and expulsion in the context of Directive 2004/38 and its underlying understanding of citizenship as incremental acquisition of rights. It then goes to discuss the trend toward restrictive interpretations of the notions of public policy and public security. Finally, the first part questions the manner in which the Court of Justice has relied on fundamental rights considerations in its expulsion and EU citizenship case law. The second part of the working paper focuses on the national level. It starts by identifying an implementation and information gap in relation to the exercise of free movement rights by EU citizens. A closer look at what happens in practice in Belgium, the UK and Italy highlights the problematic use of expulsion at the Member States level to deal not only with criminal behavior but increasingly to remove and detain EU citizens who fail to meet the residence conditions set out in Directive 2004/38. The use of entry bans in Germany and the UK is also briefly addressed. The final part places expulsion in relation to Brexit and questions the relevance of EU citizenship as offering increased protection.