The duty of sincere cooperation and its implications on the acquisition of citizenship by investment

Abstract

The citizenship of the European Union is a right that is acquired automatically by all persons holding the citizenship of any EU Member State. This type of citizenship, through its supra-‘standard’ citizenship elements, brings forward the discussion on legal implications in this regard. This dissertation will investigate the differences between ‘standard’ citizenship of States and that of the EU. Furthermore, the principle of sincere cooperation, which is enshrined within Article 4(3) TEU, presents specific obligations, both vertically and horizontally, for Member States and the European Union. This principle maintains the interpretation, application and implementation of all rights and duties across the territory of the EU. This dissertation will look into the legal implications of citizenship-by-investment schemes and will attempt at analysing interpretations of the Courts of Justice of the European Union with regards to the obligations and duties enshrined within the principle of sincere cooperation. Moreover it will attempt at providing an application of such interpretations to the challenges being seen through the application of such schemes. This research will look into the Court’s interpretation of case-law such as Case C-369/90 Micheletti, Case C-179/98 Mesbah, Case C-200/02 Zhu and Chen, Case C-135/08 Rottman, Case C-249/11 Byankov, Case C 182/15 Petruhhin, Case C 673/16 Coman and Case C 398/19 Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Berlin. In addition to the interpretation of such cases, this interpretation will be applied with regards to citizenship by investment schemes in order to analyse the legal implications in this regard.