Introduction to the special issue: Justice and solidarity in Europe

Abstract

Publics across Europe increasingly feel that the European Union (EU) undermines the problem-solving capacities of its member states – particularly in social, welfare, migration, and labour policy – and increases inequality both within and across them. As a result, the EU in general, and specific institutions within it, strike many as standing in need of significant reform. This raises various questions: Which areas of EU policymaking and which specific institutions need to be reformed? What standard of assessment should guide us in formulating alternatives? More abstractly, what principles of socio-economic justice and solidarity, if any, apply at the EU level and how can these principles inform policies and institutional design proposals? Over the years, much has been written on the democratic deficit of the EU. But much less has been written on substantive (as opposed to procedural) normative standards. Even fewer authors have sought to bring together substantive moral analysis with concrete, empirically grounded policy suggestions. The goal of this Special Issue is to remedy both the lack of theorizing of justice and fairness in relation to the EU, and tomake someheadway in bridging the gap between normative, philosophical perspectives, and empirical analysis. To this end, the issue puts into dialogue political theorists and philosophers with more empirically minded researchers working in political science, sociology, and political economy to critically and constructively analyse the EU’s major institutions. In terms of topic area, all these essays can be thought of as contributions to the investigation of the EU’s evolving ‘economic constitution’. Sometimes this engagement occurs indirectly and at a level of theoretical and philosophical abstraction, as when authors seek to determine the best interpretation