Solidarity within the European Union: a necessary re-launch

The idea of solidarity inspired the movement that, after the Second World War, pushed for the integration within Europe. Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union explicitly refers to the principle of solidarity. On several occasions, solidarity is mentioned in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (art. 67, 80, 122, 194). Chapter IV of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU is entitled 'Solidarity'. The meaning of 'solidarity', and how it is interpreted and understood in the practice of the EU, will be recalled in the first part of the paper. Attention will be put then on the issue of 'solidarity' in the current management of the migration flows, from the 2015 'A European Agenda for Migration' to the most recent decisions on the same topic of the Council of the European Union and proposals for reform of the Common European Asylum System. Some critical considerations, and medium and long term perspectives, are added at the end of the paper.