In short, the paper makes the argument that EU citizenship, as prescribed in the EU treaties, should be taken seriously as a citizenship. Initially, it was unclear what significance this new status had. Over time, the EU institutions, primarily the Court of Justice of the EU, have been interpreting the meaning of citizenship. Through this process, EU citizenship has been gradually evolving into a proper “fundamental” legal status that brings the EU citizen into a direct legal relationship with the Union. Brexit, and the threat of UK nationals losing their residence rights in the EU, forces the issue of the current meaning of EU citizenship. Under international law, acquisition of nationality is largely within the discretion of the state, with limited exceptions. However, the loss of nationality is more tightly restricted. The discretion to revoke or terminate nationality is additionally limited by EU controls over loss of EU citizenship. This article concludes that, perhaps counter-intuitively, UK nationals who have validly acquired EU citizenship should not necessarily lose their EU citizenship when the UK leaves the Union because these persons now have a direct legal bond with the Union that Brexit may not be able to disturb. In turn, these UK nationals should retain EU citizenship and the resulting residence rights in the EU.

中文翻译：

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英国脱欧和国际法对失去欧盟公民身份的禁令

简而言之，该论文提出的论点是，欧盟条约中规定的欧盟公民身份应作为公民身份被认真对待。最初，不清楚这个新地位有什么意义。随着时间的推移，欧盟机构，主要是欧盟法院，一直在解释公民身份的含义。通过这个过程，欧盟公民身份逐渐演变为适当的“基本”法律地位，使欧盟公民与欧盟建立直接的法律关系。英国脱欧，以及英国国民失去在欧盟居留权的威胁，迫使人们探讨欧盟公民身份的当前含义。根据国际法，获得国籍在很大程度上由国家自行决定，但例外情况有限。但是，国籍的丧失受到更严格的限制。撤销或终止国籍的自由裁量权还受到欧盟对失去欧盟公民身份的控制的限制。本文的结论可能与直觉相反，当英国离开欧盟时，有效获得欧盟公民身份的英国国民不一定会失去欧盟公民身份，因为这些人现在与欧盟有直接的法律联系，英国退欧可能无法打扰。反过来，这些英国国民应保留欧盟公民身份以及由此产生的欧盟居留权。有效获得欧盟公民身份的英国国民在英国离开欧盟时不一定会失去欧盟公民身份，因为这些人现在与欧盟有直接的法律联系，英国退欧可能无法扰乱。反过来，这些英国国民应保留欧盟公民身份以及由此产生的欧盟居留权。有效获得欧盟公民身份的英国国民在英国离开欧盟时不一定会失去欧盟公民身份，因为这些人现在与欧盟有直接的法律联系，英国退欧可能无法扰乱。反过来，这些英国国民应保留欧盟公民身份以及由此产生的欧盟居留权。