Conclusion: Solidarity as a Public Virtue?

European contexts of volunteering and inclusion of migrant children in schools

“…People with higher level of education (bachelor's or master's degree) tend to volunteer more, but this factor has far more impact on youth volunteerism than adult volunteerism (Bonnesen, 2018). Similarly, a study in Switzerland found that the solidarity is highest in the German-speaking part of the country, followed by the French-and Italian speaking regions (Federico, 2018).…”

Talking about solidarity . . . it sounds like a whisper: solidarity in law and public policies

“…In all countries, however, we detected a general tendency towards policy changes emphasising flexibilisation of labour relations, conditionality for welfare and unemployment benefits and 'activation' elements, in accordance with the broader supply-focused trend characterising European unemployment policies throughout the 1990s and 2000s. And against this trend, employment and unemployment remain highly contested terrains, especially in the countries where the most radical reforms have been upheld (Federico, 2018). Solidarity is a recessive value in current unemployment/labour legislation, even though in this domain it is overtly named, for example, in solidarity contracts in Italy and in Switzerland and in solidarity gradual pre-retirement contracts in France.…”

“…Solidarity, therefore, is part of the constitutional DNA of all the countries examined here and of the EU. This entails, first, that the constitutional value attributed to solidarity allows legislators and policy-makers to refer to it as a legitimate source of laws and policies that go far beyond the more typical application of the principle of solidarity (the welfare system), spanning many areas, from housing policies to family law; from fiscal measures and tax law to labour law; from international cooperation to energy legislation; from the promotion of volunteering and civil society to freedom of association (Federico, 2018). Second, should any legal or policy act be in breach of it, as has happened during the financial crisis, the constitutional entrenchment of solidarity makes it easier for judges, especially constitutional judges, to refer to it as an insurmountable constitutional paradigm.…”