Book review: Solidarity in EU Law, Legal Principle in the Making
| DOI | 10.1177/1388262720909202 |
| Published date | 01 March 2020 |
| Date | 01 March 2020 |
| Author | Effrosyni Bakirtzi |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
87
Andrea Biondi, Egl _e Dagilyt _e and Esin Ku¨c¸u¨k (2018) Solidarity in EU Law, Legal Principle in the Making,
Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK – Northampton, MA, USA, 226 pages, ISBN: 978-1-
78347-777-7 (hardback)
and
Silvana Sciarra (2018) Solidarity and Conflict, European Social Law in Crisis, Cambridge University Press,
United Kingdom, 151 pages, ISBN: 978-1-107-08606-7 (hardback).
Reviewed by: Effrosyni Bakirtzi, University of Kassel and University of Applied Sciences Fulda, Germany.
DOI: 10.1177/1388262720909202
Both of the reviewed books deal with the conflict between economic and social policies in the light
of the current crises in Europe. The threats to the European integration project due to these crises
have reignited the debate on European solidarity.
The first book is a book of essays, edited by Andrea Biondi (King’s College London), Egl_e
Dagilyt _e (Anglia Ruskin University) and Esin Ku¨c¸u¨k (Lancaster University), dealing with soli-
darity in EU law and its exploration as a legal principle in the making.
In the introduction to the edited volume, the editors explain how the model of European
integration, based on the supranational ‘social market economy’, was introduced by the new
Article 3(3) Treaty European Union (TEU) in the Treaty of Lisbon1, and argued that it is actually
linked to the first truly political manifesto on European integration, namely the 1950 Schuman
Declaration. In this Declaration, the notion of ‘solidarity’ was a key to further integrative steps:
‘Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete
achievements, which first create a de facto solidarity.’ According to the editors, this quote con-
tained a clear demand: a results-driven imperative or, in other words, a results-oriented model of
European integration. However, the sharp mismatch between powers located in European institu-
tions which, as supranational actors, could impose their will on Member States, and the lack of
equally effective instruments to promote social values and social justice to accompany them, has
been the underlying cause for conflicts and tensions.
The editors go on to describe how the tensions escalated during the financial crisis when EU
control on national economic policies expanded progressively. A severe clash between preserving
economic efficiency and individual legal rights has been documented in a number of Member
States, in particular those hit most hard by the economic and financial crisis (Greece, Spain,
Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus). In addition to the above, the ongoing migration crisis, the 2016
EU referendum in the UK and the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, represent a defeat for those
believing in a European process of cooperation and solidarity between countries and citizens.
The questions that the editors identify at this point are: what will happen to European solidarity?
Where do we start again? Is it worth starting at all? The fact that the British government finds it
extremely difficult to start the process of post-Brexit is evidence of the huge impact of the
European process, including rules and principles, on its Member States and how much these have
permeated the whole system of legal, political and economic life.
1. The term ‘social market economy’ has created confusion among scholars, see Pennings, F. (2019) ‘How do Social and
Economic Rights relate to each other in the Social Market Economy, Utrecht Law Review, 15(2), 1–15.
88
European Journal of Social Security 22(1)
In light of the above developments, it is suggested that the old results-oriented European integration
model should be reassessed, promoting the still existing...
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