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21 - The EU and the Narrative of Solidarity

from Prosperity and Solidarity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2023

By
Malcolm Ross
Edited by
Mathieu Segers  and
Steven Van Hecke
Mathieu Segers
Affiliation:
Universiteit Maastricht, Netherlands
Steven Van Hecke
Affiliation:
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
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Summary

Solidarity is a contested and elusive concept. Nevertheless, it has made a considerable contribution to the shape and character of European Union (EU) integration from pre-European Economic Community (EEC) days to ongoing debates in the Conference on the Future of Europe. Indeed, solidarity has been characterised as ‘both the raison d’être and the objective of the European project’.1 Yet that impact has been achieved despite a less than obvious ‘fit’ between classical notions of solidarity and the complex system that constitutes the EU. Without adopting any essentialist approach to the meaning of solidarity, orthodox expositions emphasise close ties between individuals that involve sharing or redistributing resources, usually carrying connotations of political action and often situated in the social sphere. Put another way, solidarity is frequently understood as an affective condition defending particular values and usually most effective at local levels.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of the European Union , pp. 600 - 625
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

Recommended Reading

Beutler, B. ‘Solidarity in the EU: A Critique of Solidarity and of the EU’, in Grimmel, A. and Giang, S. M. (eds.), Solidarity in the European Union (Cham, Springer, 2017), pp. 21–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delanty, G. ‘What Unites Europe and What Divides It? Solidarity and the European Heritage Reconsidered’, Asian Journal of German and European Studies 3 (2018), https://ajges.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40856-018-0025-x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furness, M., Ghica, L. A., Lightfoot, S. and Szent-Iványi, B.. ‘EU Development Policy: Evolving as an Instrument of Foreign Policy and as an Expression of Solidarity’, Journal of Contemporary European Research 16, no. 2 (2020): 89–100.Google Scholar
Lahusen, C. ‘European Solidarity: An Introduction to a Multifaceted Phenomenon’, in Lahusen, C. (ed.), Citizens’ Solidarity in Europe: Civic Engagement and Public Discourse in Times of Crises (Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 2020), pp. 1–28.Google Scholar
Pornschlegel, S. ‘ Solidarity in the EU: More Hype Than Substance?’, EPC Issue Paper 21, Charlemagne Prize Academy (2021), https://epc.eu/content/PDF/2021/EU_solidarity_IP.pdf.Google Scholar
Reinl, A. K. ‘Transnational Solidarity within the EU: Public Support for Risk-Sharing and Redistribution’, Social Indicators Research 163 (2022): 1373–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallaschek, S. ‘The Discursive Construction of Solidarity: Analysing Public Claims in Europe’s Migration Crisis’, Political Studies 68, no. 1 (2019): 74–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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