"The problem of the European citizenship is important. It is very difficult to keep economic union without the commitment and the solidarity relative to political union." That was said by Emma Cohen de Lara - professor at the University of Amsterdam-, at the conference ‘The Ethics of the Citizenship in the 21st Century', organized by the project ‘Religion and Civil Society' of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) held at the University of Navarra.

According to Professor Cohen de Lara, the "discrepancy between these two ideals" has become even more evident during the crisis. Many European countries are experiencing an economic stagnation which results in political rejection of the EU. In the elections of 25M, the support for Eurosceptism has grown: if the results help clarify and strengthen the political status of the Union, the development of European citizenship will be enhanced".

The expert of the University of Amsterdam emphasized the importance of the affective dimension in a political community. "Liberalism attempts to define citizenship as a specific group of rights and duties articulated by the State. Nevertheless, this vision reflects only a part of what it means to be a citizen: it is not only to accept these rights and duties, but rather it also involves the development of emotional ties to the community," she said.

Global political community

She also referred to the concept of citizenship in the world today. "The process of globalization implies increased mobility of people and goods and more levels of change in governments. All this undermines the nation-state as a stable supplier of the rights and duties of citizens and creates uncertainty. The reaction of many countries when facing this problem is to cling to the idea of the nation as a source of identity," she added.

"Some experts –she said- believe that a global political community exists and, therefore, global citizenship is possible. "However, when they attempt to define its content and practice, it appears to be a very limited."

Emma Cohen de Lara was one of the speakers at the congress ‘The Ethics of the Citizenship in the 21st Century', in which there were approximately thirty experts from academic centers in the Netherlands, USA, Italy, New Zealand and Spain, as well as Harvard University and the Catholic University of Sacro Cuore.

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