Solidarity has become a major reference point in the discourse surrounding EU foreign policy, particularly in the context of major conflicts and crisis developments such as the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan. Yet, despite its growing relevance, how solidarity is constructed and practised in the EU’s foreign policy remains under-theorised and under-studied empirically. The purpose of this Workshop is to further develop our theoretical understanding of the concept of ‘international solidarity’ in the EU’s external action through interdisciplinary research, and to explore empirically the relationship between ‘international solidarity’, conflict and crisis in the EU’s foreign policy discourse and practice.
In the study of European integration, solidarity has developed into an important analytical concept (Grimmel 2017). First, there is a strong focus on ‘intergovernmental solidarity’ – i.e. patterns of solidarity among member states in crisis situations such as the European economic and financial crisis 2008-9 (Eriksen 2017), the European migration and asylum policy crisis in 2015 (Vaagland & Zaun 2024), or the Covid-19 pandemic (Anghel & Jones 2023; Genschel & Jachtenfuchs 2021). Second, the literature has also focused extensively on ‘transnational solidarity’, i.e. attitudes of solidarity that individual EU citizens hold vis-à-vis other EU member states and their populations (Katsanidou et al. 2022; Kriesi et al. 2024; Frizell et al. 2025). Conversely, less attention has been paid to the EU’s ‘international solidarity’, i.e. the EU’s solidarity with societies and nation states in the international arena (Knodt and Tews 2017). How solidarity is constructed and practised in EU foreign policy remains a significant research gap.
Engaging with the topic and building a community of scholars interested in the EU’s ‘international solidarity’ is particularly timely against the backdrop of an international environment marked by growing geopolitical competition, the contestation of core international institutions that underpin the liberal global order, and war on Europe’s doorstep. Drawing on related strands of research on solidarity – international law, political theory, and international relations – the Workshop contributes to a better understanding of the EU’s international relations in times of conflict and crisis by exploring the role of ‘international solidarity’.
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1: What patterns of EU international solidarity in discourse and practice are observable?
2: How is EU solidarity with third countries or societies involved in conflict and crisis constructed and practised?
3: How can we explain varying degrees (and a lack) of solidarity by the EU with third countries and societies?
4: What are domestic/external effects of EU solidarity with third countries or societies? (legitimacy, contestation)
5: How do appeals to solidarity by external actors affect EU foreign policy?
1: solidarity as a normative driver of EU external action and how it may conflict with geopolitical interests
2: EU international solidarity across different domains: humanitarian aid, development, trade, migration, security
3: how the EU uses solidarity in strategic communications and interest-driven policies
4: varying patterns of EU member states’ solidarity with countries/societies at war: Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, etc
5: the role of European non-state actors (civil society actors, businesses) in practising international solidarity
6: how (a lack of) EU solidarity in foreign policy contributes to the EU’s internal/external legitimacy
7: (varying patterns of) external perceptions of EU solidarity in third countries and societies
8: familiarities and differences between solidarity and other concepts: normative power, protean power, etc.
