ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the controversial aspects of the debates over the Europeanization of citizenship and argues that the demos/no-demos controversy is a mere fallacy because democracy, identity and constitutionalism at the EU level should be based on the assumption of the separation of nationality and citizenship. One of the most controversial questions addressed by both scholars and politicians is whether or not the EU has or needs a demos. Even when politicians support the idea and recognise the need to tackle social issues through a common response, it remains a dead letter if none of these issues is primarily an EU competence. When European citizenship was formally included in the Maastricht Treaty, scholarly and political debates questioned its purpose and functionality. When citizenship is conflated with nationality, it is not only about the politics of public authority but also about the social reality of peoplehood and the identity of the polity.
