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The impact of EU law on the situation of the third country nationals in Ceuta and Melilla has been twofold. The first phase of the construction of an European identity through free movement law had an important impact on the population of the autonomous cities, since the accession of Spain to the eu, which entailed the introduction of several modifications in field of immigration law, led to the emergence of differentiated legal regimes which were previously inexistent, strengthening the differences of status based on nationality. In more recent times, the introduction of the EU migration law has partially overcome this situation. Taking this scenario into account, this article addresses the way in which free movement law--including the Schengen acquis-- and EU citizenship have affected the traditional division between citizens and third country nationals in the autonomous cities and the impact of EU immigration policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The definition of the legal contours of a citizenship status is intrinsically bound to the determination of a differentiated status for non-citizens. Nonetheless, European citizenship has been designed in a non-exclusionary fashion. This is not so much the result of a conscious exercise of inclusiveness, as the result of the indeterminacy of the EU Treaties. The progressive construction of a common European immigra-tion policy is happening within a constitutional scenario deprived of principles suitable to guide the rela-tionship between the citizenship status and the several newly created status for third-country nationals, who now derive their EU rights not only from their relationships with EU citizens nor from agreements mirroring the fundamental freedoms. For this reason, there is a growing need to make explicit the princi-ples that should govern this relationship. The main purpose of this paper is to discern and analyse the emerging lines of this relationship, which are being unveiled by EU immigration norms, particularly as they are being interpreted in recent judgements of the ECJ. It will be argued that the new EU rules on immigration are helping to uncover the shortcomings and incoherencies of the EU citizenship status since, paradoxically, the structure of EU competences allows for a deeper involvement of EU law in the determination of the rights of third country nationals than of the rights of citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]