Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the European Union
- The Cambridge History of the European Union
- The Cambridge History of the European Union
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume II
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Reflections on the History and Historiography of European Integration
- Part I Milestones: Treaties and Treaty Changes
- Part II Instruments of Integration
- Part III Narratives and Outcomes
- War and Peace
- Prosperity and Solidarity
- 19 The EU and the Narrative of Prosperity
- 20 Changing Europe’s Economic History
- 21 The EU and the Narrative of Solidarity
- 22 European Solidarity: The Difficult Art of Managing Interdependence
- Democracy and Legitimacy
- Index
- References
22 - European Solidarity: The Difficult Art of Managing Interdependence
from Prosperity and Solidarity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 October 2023
- The Cambridge History of the European Union
- The Cambridge History of the European Union
- The Cambridge History of the European Union
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume II
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Reflections on the History and Historiography of European Integration
- Part I Milestones: Treaties and Treaty Changes
- Part II Instruments of Integration
- Part III Narratives and Outcomes
- War and Peace
- Prosperity and Solidarity
- 19 The EU and the Narrative of Prosperity
- 20 Changing Europe’s Economic History
- 21 The EU and the Narrative of Solidarity
- 22 European Solidarity: The Difficult Art of Managing Interdependence
- Democracy and Legitimacy
- Index
- References
Summary
Solidarity has been consistently the cornerstone of prevailing narratives about the continent’s unification. From Schuman’s solidarité de fait (de facto solidarity) until today’s Commission President von der Leyen, who made solidarity the buzzword underpinning the measures taken by the European Union (EU) to tackle the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, European elites have repeatedly legitimised further steps on the path of integration through the notion that centralisation was generating more prosperity for all instead of war, disunion and socio-economic stagnation. The idea that supranational institutions and policies were unilaterally vectors of pan-European solidarity has nevertheless proved contentious.1 This is especially true when considering solidarity in terms of social justice and welfare shared equally among all Europeans regardless of their country of origin.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of the European Union , pp. 626 - 651Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023