Abstract

The concept of a territorially united Europe is a necessary corollary to the completion of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). While the case law of the CJEU on EU citizenship in many respects aims to strengthen this status (and, at the same time, to weaken Member States’ regulatory power) there is at least a partly opposite trend in the assessment of Member States’ expulsion policy under EU law. This line of cases emphasizes not only the traditional role of the Janus-faced concept of social integration, which bolsters the exercise of rights, but also its role as a justification for the restriction of rights. This article examines how the CJEU can reconcile the federalizing concept of a new citizenship with an expulsion policy based on sovereignty and how all of this impacts the unifying and expanding concept of EU citizenship.