Verfassungsrecht zur Staatsangehörigkeit und Migration im verfassungsrechtlichen Rahmen, verfassungsrechtliche Aspekte des Einwanderungsrechts, staatsbürgerliche Rechte und Pflichten sowie verfassungsrechtliche Regulierung der Migrationspolitik. Umfasst verfassungsrechtliche Staatsangehörigkeitskonzepte und verfassungsrechtliche Grenzen der Migrationsregulierung.
Catharina Ziebritzki argues that responsibilities are effectively blurred by the sheer number of actors operating in asylum processing centres at the EU external borders.
This blogpost contextualises Frontex by discussing a pioneer database in Europe, the German Central Foreigner Register that presumably served as a model when establishing the European databases, and by drawing some lessons from the German case for the European context regarding the effectiveness of database surveillance.
For many years, Frontex and border control were of little interest to the wider European public. This changed in the wake of the so-called ‘migrant crisis’ as the agency and its various activities were thrust into the limelight due to a steady stream of allegations of misconduct.
This first contribution to the symposium briefly outlines the genesis, development, and status quo of the agency, while the ensuing analyses will zoom in on specific politico-legal matters that are at the core of the current debate.
The twenty-two responses to Rainer Bauböck's proposal for strengthening urban citizenship suggest two general lessons. First, there is more common ground than expected. None of the authors defends a strong statist view that would not leave any space for a conversation about citizenship at the local level. Second, in spite of its long premodern pedigree, the idea of urban citizenship seems still so new that it needs to be fleshed out in more detail. Conceptual confusion makes it hard to distinguish misunderstanding from disagreement, so the most urgent task now seems to be clarification.
If one accepts the proposition that control of the gates is a core feature of state-centred citizenship, what can be the legal implications of urban citizenship, in addition to the ones that already exist?
Kenneth Stahl argues that many countries such as the United States already have a form of “citizenship federalism,” in which local (not specifically urban) citizenship, based on residence, exists alongside national citizenship, rooted in nationality.
The assumption is that nation-states often undervalue potential immigrants and that cities would better value their potential contributions. Because citizenship involves not only inclusion but also exclusion, however, there are dangers to proposals such as Bauböck’s that “cities should determine who their citizens are independently of how states do this.”
On 23 January 2020, the government of the People’s Republic of China imposed a quarantine on the central Chinese city of Wuhan, population eleven million. Stephen Minas reinforces the cautionary trend in this debate over the merits and prospects of ‘urban citizenship’.
Helmut Aust reflects on the role of law in this discourse. The answer one might give to the question of decoupling citizenship from the state would arguably also depend on one’s disciplinary perspective. It is easier to think outside of the box from the perspective of political theory, political philosophy, and history than it is from the perspective of the law.
13. September 2025
Giovanni Capoccia
12. September 2025
Anne Peters
12. September 2025
Anne Peters