A Litmus Test for the EU: Solidarity Principle and Challenges by COVID-19 in 2020

Abstract

Solidarity is one of the oldest but still ambiguous principles of the European Union (EU). In the year 2020, COVID-19 took its place among many other previous litmus tests over solidarity. Initial reluctance of European instutions and lack of effective joint counter-disaster mechanisms, to cope with the unprecedented social and economic devastation caused by the pandemic, triggered once more a wave of harsh criticism of solidarity principle. Although the pandemic did not reach to its end, and it is still too early to measure its overall results in the EU, the article asserts that, a positive tendency for European members' adherence to solidarity principle is on rise.

Social Cohesion and Covid-19: an integrative review

“…Sixteen of the pieces of work involved an analysis of two or more nations [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] ; twelve were based in the United Kingdom 27,[55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] ; seven in the United States of America [66][67][68][69][70][71][72] ; four each in Germany [73][74][75][76] , Australia [77][78][79][80] and Aotearoa-NZ [81][82][83][84] ; two each in Iran 85,86 and South Africa 87,…”

“…Accounts which emphasised group members' working together or their choice to act for the good of the collective expressed these behaviours in reference to collective action 39,42,43,52,55,65,66,79,80,87,99 , co-operation 42,76,90,97,98 , collaboration 53,88 , limited conflicts of interest 45 , the pursuit of a shared goal 49 , enactment of social or civic responsibility 27,47,50,55,87 , a latent orientation to the common good 66,75,86 , mutual aid 45,85 , altruism 66,78 and solidarity 45,46,49,50,66,91,103 . In this respect, Garber and Vinetz 66 consider the tension between adjacent processes of individualised identity and low trust in public officials, and the importance of cohesion as collective buy-in for public health interventions such as mask wearing.…”

“…This was characterised by the British Academy 27 as a "rally round the flag" effect. This effect has been described occurring in relation to a range of different constructions of social cohesion and their indicators: interpersonal interaction, social support and feelings of togetherness 27,68,87 ; trust in 'most people' 73 , those in one's neighbourhood 59 and government 27,60,93 ; political polarisation 98 ; feelings of national and local unity 27,[59][60][61] ; and collaboration between nations 46 . The British Academy's 27 UK-based narrative suggested pre-existing division and declining cohesion in the years before the pandemic, followed by a 'coming together' during the first wave, in which people were brought to trust each other more, have increased perceptions of local and national unity, identify more closely with their communities and offer both emotional and practical support to others.…”