Freedom of Movement vs. Exclusion: A Reinterpretation of the ‘Insider'-‘Outsider’ Divide in the European Union

Abstract

This article argues that the question of free movement vs. exclusion within the European Union (EU) can be addressed satisfactorily only if we move away from the narrow state-centrism inherent in the current debate. What is required is to ‘open’ the state concept and examine the implications of state-society relations for EU policymaking. Once this is done, it can be seen that the exclusionist stance of the immigration policy and the essentially intergovernmental nature of the policymaking are due to an implicit contract between states and constituents implied by the concepts of nationality and citizenship. According to this perspective, the focus on the state or the political elite alone is too one-sided and misses the more complex factors bearing upon EU policymaking in this area.