Resumen de Solidarity’s reach: Meaning, dimensions and implications for EU (external) asylum policy
Solidarity has a key role to play in the allocation of responsibility for refugee protection, as is implied by Article 80 TFEU. Yet, EU law fails to provide a definition and a clear indication of what it entails, especially as for its external reach. Against this background, this article embarks on a theoretical/practical investigation of the normative bases of ‘EU solidarity’. Building on a cosmopolitan vision, it unpacks the multi-polar/multi-functional nature of the concept, as a founding value and constitutional (meta-)principle of EU law. In such a guise, it will posit that solidarity gives rise to an (autonomous) primary law duty of responsibility sharing/good faith cooperation that requires ‘fairness’ and ‘respect for fundamental rights’, as a uniform/all-pervading structural command generally applicable across policy fields. So configured, solidarity governs intra/extra-EU relations (based on the principle of coherence). The institutional, material, and procedural aspects of solidarity are thus explored to distil its horizontal, vertical, and systemic facets. Combined, they arguably produce a triple duty of conduct, loyalty, and result that permeates EU integration as a whole, calling into question the self-serving approach currently guiding the Common European Asylum System’s (CEAS) ‘external dimension’, as exemplified by the EU-Turkey ‘deal’.
