Borders and Bordering in the EU in the Time of CoViD-19

The response of European governments to the CoViD‐19 pandemic has been that of reinforcing national borders and restricting citizens’ freedom of movement, in continuity with the securitarian policies adopted in past years to react to transnational phenomena such as terrorism and migration flows. This reaction shows the centrality of the role of the State in the management of borders to protect public order, public safety, and public health, and it highlights the weakness of the European legal space, which, on the other hand, is mainly aimed at guaranteeing freedom of movement and the functioning of the single market. After some theoretical considerations on the evolution of the concept of border in the light of the current pandemic, the article focuses on the European understanding of the element of the border by relating the different concepts of constitutional territory and European legal space and by discussing the issue of sovereignty in Europe starting from the concept of border and in the light of the European response to the health crisis.