Sovereignty and acquis communautaire: the new borders of the European Union

The current configuration of the European Union is the result of the overtaking of national borders and of the strict interpretation of the sovereignty principle. The economic, monetary, political and human integration that characterizes the European Union today could not have been achieved if national borders had been maintained. This article considers that the political frontier of the European Union is the acquis communautaire and that the enlargements of the European Union represent the opening of this border.