Free movement and EU citizenship: a virtuous circle?

The year 2013 was officially declared the European Year of Citizens (EYC) in the European Union (EU). Through this event, the European Commission (EC) reiterates a ‘virtuous circle’ – between citizenship, free movement and a sense of belonging – able to bring citizens closer to the EU. This article shows how this ‘virtuous circle’ tends to translate into a ‘tunnel vision’ that reduces citizenship to free movement. Through the analysis of EC discourses, of the literature on ‘movers’ and ‘stayers’, and of focus groups with young people from Brussels, we suggest to expand the understanding of free movement and its effects. Overall, this article proposes to re-evaluate the scope of the ‘virtuous circle’ by considering that the ‘stayers’ are also EU citizens, that free movement is not indisputably an attractive right, and that the movers do not unquestionably feel attached to the EU as a result of their mobility.