Action in Concert: European Union Solidarity in Planetary Politics

The paper analyses European Union (EU) international solidarity in the context of increasing international conflict, ‘geopolitical’ competition between self-styled ‘multipolar’ great powers, and the planetary organic crisis. Over the past three decades the EU has increasingly emphasised ‘solidarity and mutual respect among peoples’ and ‘the principles of equality and solidarity’ in its relations with the wider world and action on the international scene. This commitment to solidarity was emphasised as an important normative principle in the Normative Power Approach (NPA) 25 years ago. But what does EU solidarity mean as a normative principle? How are EU foreign policy actions on solidarity undertaken? And what is the impact of external actions on solidarity? These are the three questions within the NPA that the paper will analyse in three stages: principle, action, and impact. The paper begins with a conceptual and theoretical background to the study of solidarity, followed by the empirical examination of the three analytical stages of the NPA, and finally conclude with a finding on what the analysis demonstrates regarding international solidarity and EU foreign policy in times of war and geopolitical competition. Firstly, the paper conceptually interrogates the many different understandings of solidarity that the EU seeks to promote, including solidarity between Europeans, generations, member states, and among peoples in the wider world. These conceptual differences in understandings of international solidarity will be theorised through three theoretical paradigms. Simply put, the conservative theoretical paradigm sees solidarity as primarily occurring within the societies of ‘nation-states’ whereas international solidarity is the ambition of international cooperation between states. The liberal theoretical paradigm sees solidarity as a function and feature of interdependence where states, regional organisations, and international organisations engage in multilateral solidarity in order to address the consequences of that independence. The social paradigm goes beyond the dichotomies of conservative-liberal international solidarity to view transnational solidarity as important beyond the state system. The paper develops these competing theoretical approaches to international solidarity within the context of ‘planetary politics’ characterised by truly planetary relations of causality that can only be understood and addressed holistically. Secondly, the paper empirically examines the tensions of development assistance and global justice through relations between the EU and former colonies in cases of international solidarity through actions in concert. Actions in concert including both EU and non-EU actors attempting to work in solidarity to address planetary political issues that cross policy sectors of economic equality, social justice, ecological sustainability, conflict security, and political resilience. The concrete cases of international solidarity to address planetary organic crisis involve the four most famous long-term complex cases of the Central American Dry Corridor, the Central Sahel Region, the Horn of Africa, and the Andean Zone. The EU has assessed these as ‘Forgotten Crises’ requiring ‘EU solidarity in action’. Finally, the paper concludes with two sets of reflections on what the case study analyses demonstrates about the empirical practice of the normative principle, action, and impact of solidarity actions in concert, as well as the agonistic theoretical explanations for these empirical practices.