Solidarity appears in different contexts in EU law. It appears as a principle, as one of the EU's
objectives, it is specifically expressed in the CFSP and is reflected in the mutual defence clause
and the solidarity clause. Many of the legal instruments adopted to deal with the various crises
in EU (the Eurozone debt crisis, the refugee crisis, the coronacrisis and the energy crisis) reflect
solidarity. The CFR also contains a chapter entitled Solidarity.
At the stage of the current development of EU law, the principle of solidarity does not (yet)
represent a general legal principle of EU law that would be applicable in all areas of EU law,
as it lacks the characteristics of enforceability and general validity. The principle of solidarity
thus appears as a special legal principle of EU law in the context of individual areas where this
principle is specifically concretized, namely: in the field of EU action on the international scene,
border checks, asylum and immigration, economic policy and energy. Even within the latter,
however, the legal effects of the principle of solidarity differ.
In the context of the EU's action at international scene, the solidarity principle has mainly
political effects, acting as an informative principle for the direct legal basis of measures taken
on other legal bases.
On the other hand, in the areas of border checks, asylum and immigration, and energy, the
principle of solidarity has all the legal effects that general legal principles of EU law can have
(''gap fill'', an interpretative tool and a basis for judicial review). In the area of economic policy,
the principle of solidarity should have the same effects as general legal principles of the EU for
measures adopted under the provision of Article 122(1) of the TFEU, which relate to the area
of energy.
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