Promoting solidarity in the European Union
 
Malcolm Ross and Yuri Borgmann-Prebil (eds.) (2010)
Oxford University Press
 
The book explores the different implications and current relevance of the idea of solidarity in the European integration, which is increasingly invocated in political discourses and outcomes. It analyzes the theorization of this concept, its political and constitutional implications, its link to the citizenship and its importance with regard to the governance in the EU. Through 12 chapters, different authors from varied disciplines analyze the solidarity in the European Union from different perspectives and different degrees of optimism or pessimism about its actual importance. Authors’ positions vary between the certainty about its utility and a clear skepticism.

>> The contrast between these two points of view is particularly clear when comparing the second and third chapters. For instance, Ross (second chapter) concludes that solidarity could actually be a constitutional principle, as it might be deducted by analyzing the acquis communautaire. This addition to the traditional citizenship and fundamental rights centered legal perspective offers a stimulating perspective for further research, and it contrasts explicitly with the one offered by Lamping in the third chapter. He states that solidarity is essentially a national attribute, explained by a common history and identity. Under a process of ‘europeanization’ of welfare systems, European countries would be moving (dangerously?) towards an uncertain supranational context where solidarity is still not an evidence. In fact, solidarity doesn’t have yet a clear and transparent function and it cannot be easily used by the legal bodies (Davies’chapter).

Other authors’ reflections are less categorical, which opportunely allows the reader to tinge the more explicit points of view. According to Barnard (chapter 4), the Commission does not use the idea of solidarity convincingly enough and often its policies are not embedded with social objectives. However, this idea exists and counterbalances the market orientation of many of the European policies, including the Lisbon agenda. Moreover, the case law of the European Court of Justice might have a potential to ensure the internal solidarity and the continuity of the welfare systems in the Member States (Rieder, chapter 6) by facilitating the adoption of initially unpopular policies (Mabbett, chapter 10). In this sense, the role of the Open Method of Coordination is conveniently assessed (Anderson, chapter 11; Lange and Alexiadou, chapter 12) bringing to the conclusion that it is a potentially relevant mechanism for further solidarity. The same applies for the territorial cohesion and the regional funding policies (13, Holder and Layard). Nevertheless, these authors try to avoid any kind of triumphalism and remain prudent when assessing the future perspectives. 

For the reader to get a general and complete impression of the issue, more specific aspects are treated in other chapters, as it is the case of the link between citizenship and solidarity, which is specifically scrutinized through the analysis of the state of play in different policy areas. Hilson in chapter 7 captivatingly analyzes the environmentalist discourse in Europe and how it implies a collective solidarity that clearly differs from the individualistic conception of citizenship. Another intellectually stimulating dimension of the issue is the way the illegal migration is treated in Europe (Bell, chapter 8). The exclusion of those migrants who actually represent a significant part of Europe’s population, from most of the labor rights recognized by European Union law, reveals a strong linkage between EU citizenship and solidarity as highlighted by the editors in the first chapter: “runs […] diametrically counter to the concept of human dignity, which […] implies a degree of solidarity which can be claimed by everyone”