Remedying the Inequalities of Economic Citizenship in Europe: Cohesion Policy and the Negative Right to Move

European supranational citizenship draws the boundaries of a community of citizens, sharing the status of economic actors in the single market. The specter of inequality threatens however the resulting promise of shared membership: economic citizens face profoundly different opportunities for economic involvement, depending on their nationality and residence within the Union. Free movement rights open up a narrow way out of inequality by enabling European citizens to relocate; however, they cannot alone solve the inequality problem that economic citizenship poses. In the quest for alternative remedies to this problem, this article explores the potential of European cohesion policy. It argues that cohesion policy, by addressing gaps in wealth throughout the Community, draws the traits of a negative right to move, which adds to the protection of European economic citizenship. Through the cohesion lens, the premises are laid for a renewed assessment of the project of shared economic citizenship.