"Un pour tous, tous pour un" — or "chacun pour soi"? Solidarity as Bond and Boundary in the Internal and External Dimensions of EU Law
This panel examines solidarity as a structural principle shaping the solidity, coherence and resilience of the EU legal order. Drawing on the dual meanings of solidus (firmness and structural integrity) and solidare (binding together and collective legal response), the panel analyses how solidarity operates internally as a legal bond while simultaneously exposing fragilities in the Union’s external legal relations.
A central focus lies on the relationship between the solidity of the EU legal system and the legal stability of the Member States. The panel addresses whether the consolidation of Union law strengthens the coherence and durability of national legal orders, and conversely whether deficiencies in solidarity between Member States undermine the unity and authority of the EU legal system itself. Particular attention is paid to crisis-driven manifestations of solidarity, including legal responses to financial instability, migration pressures, public health emergencies and natural disasters, and to the capacity of EU law to stabilise normative expectations under conditions of stress.
Across different areas of EU law, the panel explores whether solidarity contributes to the solidification and integration of the legal order or instead accelerates processes of differentiation and fragmentation between legal regimes, instruments and levels of governance. The discussion remains strictly focused on the legal quality, internal consistency and systemic unity of EU law, including its internal operation and its external effects in relation to third states.
Guarantor of the section:
prof. JUDr. Ing. Ondrej Blažo, PhD.
doc. JUDr. Andrej Beleš, PhD.