Books

The need for greater efforts to communicate European citizenship was demonstrated forcefully by the Flash Eurobarometer Survey 213 on "European Citizenship" carried out in 2007 across all member states at the request of the European Commission: it revealed that whilst 78% of respondents said they had heard of the term ‘citizen of the European Union’, 22% of respondents claimed to have never heard of it. Only 41% said they knew what it meant, and half the people interviewed (49%) indicated that they were "not well informed" regarding their rights as citizens of the European Union. One respondent in five (19%) considered him/herself "not informed at all". Thus, more than two thirds of EU citizens felt uninformed about their rights as EU citizens (68%). (http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_213_en.pdf)

Since this survey was based on approximately 1000 respondents chosen at random within each country, we can assume that most, if not all, of the respondents were probably sedentary nationals of that country, with possibly little interest in citizenship rights that are largely aimed at facilitating mobility within the EU. This is not to suggest that they should not be well informed of their rights, regardless of whether or not they have any interest in actually exercising them. But what if the same survey was carried out on respondents who have already actively ‘become’ European citizens by dint of taking up residence or employment in another member state? Would we find their level of knowledge and understanding to be noticeably higher? If so, through what mechanisms did they become better informed of their rights as European citizens? If not, why not, and how might their lack of knowledge be addressed? What can their various experiences tell policy makers about how best to communicate with ordinary citizens at the ‘frontline’ of European citizenship about their rights?

This paper proposes to explore these questions by drawing on an empirical case study of a specific group of intra-EU migrants: British residents in France. Most of them can be categorised as ‘lifestyle migrants’ rather than economic migrants, even though economic factors can play an important role in the choice of migration for many lifestyle migrants.1 Of all the nationalities in the EU, it is the British who have consistently displayed the lowest level of positive engagement with the EU institutions and the processes of integration: indeed, this was confirmed in the Eurobarometer survey referred to above, which found the highest proportion of respondents who felt "not informed at all" about their rights as EU citizens in the UK (26%). It is therefore of particular interest to discover whether these British lifestyle migrants become more engaged as European citizens once they change their country of residence: does living in continental Europe make them feel more ‘European’? Do they become more aware and actively engaged as European citizens, and if so, through what mechanisms? If not, why not? What lessons can be drawn from their experiences?