The concept of solidarity within EU disaster response law: a legal assessment

In EU law, solidarity represents the paradigm of reference of the structural and normative configuration of the very EU integration process. The Lisbon Treaty has contributed to give impetus to the legal concept of solidarity by assuring it a special position as manifold notion serving as core value, as objective and as principle to be respected and pursued by the EU institutions and the Member States. The present work explores the instruments addressing disaster response within the EU territory as privileged field of extensive solidarity in the relationship between Member States and between them and the Union. The work is firstly dedicated to the instruments providing for financial assistance – namely the EU Solidarity Fund and the new emergency support instrument – as well as to the EU rules concerning the adoption of public measures for supporting companies hit by a calamitous event. Besides financial tools, the research focuses on the Union Civil Protection Mechanism which represents the main instrument providing for in-kind assistance and envisaging a more cooperative attitude among Member States. Finally, the content and the ways of implementation of the so-called ‘solidarity clause’ enshrined in Article 222 TFEU are illustrated. The ultimate purpose of the work is to investigate how the concept of solidarity works within such a specific branch of EU law by shaping the instruments proposed and, moreover, whether specific duties of solidarity that are autonomous from those deriving from the principle of loyal cooperation may be established.