The Single Currency and European Citizenship

Unveiling the Other Side of The Coin

Giovanni Moro

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781623562991
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Economic Policy
• Index: Economics

Established in 2002, the Euro is now the currency of 17 countries used by over 335 million people daily. Although the single currency is much discussed in terms of macroeconomics and global finances, policymakers rarely address its impact on European citizenship in social, cultural, political, and everyday life economics terms. This hidden side of the single currency is the focus of the essays, which use various approaches, from economic history and political sociology to citizenship and legitimacy, to reveal the connections between the Euro and European citizenship. This timely contribution by renowned experts provides a greater understanding of the Euro at a time when it is not clear whether it should be celebrated or commemorated, and looks into aspects of the single currency that are the base of the social trust that supports it and that is at stake in the present crisis. It will be an essential tool to anyone studying the political, social, and economic development of the E.U.

PART ONE

Multiple Links between Single Currency and European Citizenship

CHAPTER 1

Building citizenship in the post-modern Era: Dimensions of the other side of the coin¹

Giovanni Moro

Introduction

The other side of the coin beyond metaphor

In 1992–3, European citizenship was established in the Maastricht Treaty. Ten years later, as an implementation of another provision of the same Treaty, the euro was introduced into 12 countries, becoming the currency of nearly 300 million citizens of the European Union. At first sight, no relevant correlation between these two events can be detected, if not for the obvious fact that both regard individuals who are nationals of one of the EU countries. Therefore, “The Other Side of the Coin” formula could be just a vague metaphor for the “human side” of the single currency and (especially) of the problems affecting common people in Europe. In this case, there would not be any need for a scientific community engagement, and good media coverage of the experiences, feelings, and concerns of the people carrying the euro in their pockets would be enough.

What is needed, on the contrary, is an effort aimed at unveiling the multiple relations that link the two processes of building citizenship of the Union as an individual, social, institutional, and community phenomenon, on the one hand, and the establishment of the euro as the currency of the majority of Europeans, on the other.

To this end, I will try to identify and define those inner dimensions of the single currency that can be presumed to be connecting it to the European citizenship-building process. It is a basic but a necessary exercise. Before that, some founding elements of European citizenship intended as a process will be highlighted. After that, some reflections on the more general meaning of the relation between the single currency and European citizenship will be advanced.

The rationale for this exercise lies on a phenomenological, rather than normative, approach, which in this case has two main implications. The first one is to view the European Union as a “democratic experiment,” that is, an attempt to build a polity and a political community not being a (good or bad) copy of a nation state, thus overcoming any “methodological nationalism” (Beck and Grande 2007, 17–8). The second implication is to consider citizenship as a phenomenon in which people not only benefit from institutional decisions, but also take part in the construction of citizenship itself, being involved in and creating social meanings and relations. The introduction of the single currency can be considered to be a top down operation (and this is true), but it cannot be forgotten how citizens have dealt with the euro—in a sense, the most interesting part of the story, which is the one of a top down and a bottom up process.

European citizenship at stake

The definition exercise of this chapter, however, must not only take into account that the hidden dimensions of the single currency have to be identified, but also that European citizenship itself is “a puzzle” (Bellamy and Warleigh 2001). In other words, it is not clear as to precisely what the single currency would be in relation to. Addressing this puzzle in a synthetic way is therefore a necessary task.²

First of all, European citizenship can not only be intended as a fixed juridical status, but also as a process of redefining and increasing the content and extension of citizenship itself. Moreover, it goes well beyond its juridical content, covering social, cultural, economic, and political dimensions.

All of that can be easily detected if citizenship of the Union is observed not only in the Treaties, but also in the whole Community Acquis and in citizenship practices. This exercise allows us to view European citizenship without being tied to its two opposite conventional representations: the first, coming from the federal perspective, of an empty box, and the second, reflecting the confederal approach, of a threat to national sovereignty. It can therefore be considered as a nonstandard form although it does contain the founding elements of citizenship in general.

These elements can be summarized in terms of rights, belonging, and participation. As for rights, they include not only those established in the Treaties (with the addition of the Charter of Fundamental Rights), but also those coming, for example, from the European Court of Justice decisions and from the continuous redefinition of the balance of responsibilities between the EU and national states due to the action of social, political, and civic movements, as in the case of patients’ rights. As for belonging, a sense of identity linked to Europe in its civic dimension, not opposed to, but integrated with other identity components (the national one foremost), has emerged in the majority of EU citizens. As for participation, political participation through the vote (local elections included) and civic participation in EU policy making (consultation on decisions, support to implementation), up to the recent right of citizens to propose new EU legislation, are part of the Community participatory dimension.

In sum, after twenty years, the content and extension of Community citizenship have definitely increased, and it remains an ongoing process. Regardless of how these developments are evaluated, there is no doubt that we are dealing with an incremental phenomenon.

This phenomenon can be viewed today, including the following elements, for a definition: European citizenship as the membership of citizens of the EU countries to a larger political “civic” community and of a polity operating as a multilevel and polycentric governance system, based on a set of rights established in the Treaties, and increased over the years by the Community Acquis and citizenship practices, on a principle of multiple and difference-based identity, and on people participation both in the construction of representative institutions and in the public policy making on a daily basis.

Having said that about one of the terms of the relation we are dealing with in this chapter, attention can now be devoted to the other term, that is, the single currency with its hidden dimensions.

Defining the dimensions of the other side of the coin

Moving to the other side of the coin, four dimensions linking the single currency to European citizenship can be identified as autonomous although they are closely related components of the phenomenon:

• 

  a cultural dimension
• 

  a social dimension
• 

  an everyday life economy dimension
• 

  a political dimension

Table 1.1 Dimensions of “The Other Side of the Coin” and their observables

Dimension	Observables
Cultural	• Currency as a symbol
	• Symbols of coins
	• Symbols of banknotes
Social	• Euro as language
	• Eurozone territory
	• System of communication relations
Everyday life economy	• Euro as calculation benchmark
	• As a tool of exchange
	• As a repository of value
Political	• Institution-building
	• Public sphere
	• Citizenship practices

Each of these dimensions can be better identified by focusing on certain elements. For the sake of being rigorous, these elements should be considered as observables of those dimensions, or at least as places where the euro citizenship-building effects can be detected, rather than as systematic components of the phenomenon. They are summarized in Table 1.1.

Cultural dimension

The cultural dimension of the single currency can be defined as the set of values, representations, and cultural patterns that are referred to by the currency as a repository of symbols. It is the context in which the European identity of individuals using the euro is built (Berezin 2003; Delanty and Rumford 2005; Risse 2010). The single currency as a medium for the raising of a collective identity can be observed, considering it both as a symbol in itself and in the sets of symbols represented in coins and banknotes.

As a symbol in itself, the meaning of the single currency is related to the traditional link between currency and state sovereignty. In this sense, the...

Table of contents

• Cover-Page
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• List of Figures and Tables
• Introduction
• PART ONE Multiple Links between Single Currency and European Citizenship
• PART TWO The Single Currency and the Construction of European Identity
• PART THREE European Citizenship in the Euro Turmoil
• Conclusions: The way forward
• Bibliography
• Index