Solidarity as a Public Virtue? Law and Public Policies in the European Union (original) (raw)
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Solidarity as a Legal and Constitutional Principle in European Countries : France, In: Solidarity as a Public Virtue?: Law and Public Policies in the European Union, 2018
This volume is dedicated to the principle of solidarity. It examines the role of solidarity as a legal principle and as a component of public policies in eight European countries — Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Switzerland and the UK — and at the level of the European Union. It particularly focuses on developments in three areas: unemployment, immigration and asylum, and disability. The analyses show that solidarity is a common constitutional principle across the eight countries, and is thus a legitimate source of law, court rulings and policymaking. In the fields of unemployment, migration and disability, the legal frameworks are implicitly or explicitly committed to solidarity, but solidarity measures in these policy areas have been severely weakened since the various crises affecting the EU and other principles (such as security, competition and austerity) have prevailed.
Introduction: European solidarity – what now?
A Biondi, E Dagilyte, E Kucuk (eds), Solidarity in EU Law: Legal Principle in the Making (Edward Elgar Publishing), 2018
The chapter introduces the book, Solidarity in EU Law: Legal Principle in the Making, highlighting the political, social and human rights background against which the concept of solidarity is gaining a more substantial role in shaping the European Union's legal order. It places the summarised book chapters in this context, serving as a point of reference to reflect upon the tribulations that European solidarity is likely to face in the future, including the aftermath of Brexit and challenges to the rule of law in the EU.
Law and solidarity nowadays in Europe
Academia Letters, 2021
Nowadays, in the social, political, religious and philosophical spheres, and in general in public discourse, there is a renewed discussion of the principle of solidarity, with a constant presence of references to it and a conspicuous literature dealing with its various aspects. However, there is still a certain vagueness about the vocabulary used, sometimes with curious confusions, because the concept is used indiscriminately to talk about, for example, consanguineous unions, belonging to the same social class, connivance of power, ties between members of the same corporation, etc. Among the most recent studies reconstructing the origin and development of this concept, the most noteworthy is the book, translated from French, by Marie-Claude Blais, Solidarity. Storia di un'idea (Solidarity. History of an idea), edited by B. Magni, Giuffré, Milan 2012; and, then, for its impact in the European context, Malcom Ross and Yuri Borgmann-Prebil, Promoting solidarity in the European Union, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2010. In Italy, there is the essay by Stefano Rodotà, published in 2014 but reissued for the Economica Laterza series, which in its dense and articulated treatment aims at restoring the use of the term to a clearly distinguishable peculiarity and thus dissolving the ambiguities that often accompany it; and, then, intends to highlight the fact that the denial of the idea of solidarity as an instance of orientation and evaluation of actions in the public and private sphere is equivalent to "an act of arbitrariness, an undue amputation of the legal order" (p. 5). For these reasons, according to Rodotà, on the one hand it is necessary to rediscover the deeper meaning of the principle of solidarity and on the other hand to take into account that it finds its precise place in international documents, such as the European Treaty of Lisbon, in many Constitutions and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union itself. The author believes that the essential character of the concept of solidarity is not to be found in some sort of naturalistic presupposition, but that it can ultimately be traced back to
Based on unique international survey data, this book shows us a much needed, and exceptionally detailed, picture of the solidaristic acts and ideas of Europeans in the context of pressing economic, cultural, and political challenges. A timely, insightful, and thought-provoking contribution to our understanding of the viability of solidarity as a cornerstone of social organization in Europe."-Professor Wim van Oorschot, KU Leuven, Belgium "Solidarity in Europe is a timely book. Austerity measures, the inflow of refugees, and the rise of populism have placed considerable strain on European solidarity. This insightful book provides a rich and variegated picture of solidarity in Europe, and redresses false conceptions about solidarity and further addresses a key issue: our capacity to live together and to create social cohesion".
Law, Love and Responsibility: A Note on Solidarity in EU Law
Festskrift till Håkan Hydén. Edited by Reza Banakar, Karl Dahlstrand and Lotti Ryberg Welander. Lund: Juristförlaget. ISBN: 9789154405756., 2018
This paper argues that although solidarity was developed as a principle in EU law to enhance the unity and cooperation between the Member States, its viability at the transnational level remains ultimately a function of its efficacy at the micro level of EU citizens. The question at the core of this inquiry concerns, therefore, how micro and macro dimensions of solidarity are related to each other sociologically and what their relationship means for EU law and the EU’s integration policy. The paper begins by taking a closer look at how the notion of solidarity has been conceptualised within sociology and the sociology of law, before examining the role of solidarity in EU law and policy. It concludes by arguing that the crisis of solidarity must be reexamined in the context of the contradictory policies pursued by the EU which, on the one hand, promote social conflicts while, on the other hand, seek to stabilise social conditions by appealing to a European sense of solidarity. This turns the EU into a source of anxiety that generates a negative form of solidarity, one which is tribal in nature and lends itself easily to the populist tide of nationalism and fear that is currently sweeping across Europe.
Solidarity in the European Union: Challenges and Perspectives
Against the background of the EU's multifaceted crisis, i.e. financial and refugee crises, the growing security threat, Brexit, the deterioration of state of law in some member states, the growing gap between citizens and political elites, the political radicalization of an increasing number of citizens, etc. this book purports to reassess the social, legal, economic and moral dimensions of solidarity in the EU. The discussion on the challenges solidarity as the leading principle of EU integration currently faces focuses on fundamental questions vis-à-vis EU integration such as: are the EU's integration and crisis management capacities already exhausted, has European integration reached its limits or will the EU be finally in the position to fully put into practice and further enhance solidarity, and hence, integration?