ABOUT SOLIDARITY - OR SOLI-WHAT ?

As you know I am writing about different topics every day. I try to select topics, which are of particular interest around that day – and topics I believe I have something to tell about.  If I am successful in doing so,  I will leave to you to decide.


Day before yesterday I wrote about the 24 official official languages of the EU.  Yesterday my story was about the Stork.  And today I want to write about SOLIDARITY. Or rather:  SOLI-WHAT?


I have always understood and supported solidarity in the sense, that it is about helping each other. Particularly to help others, when they are in difficulties. And that the help has to be given according to the principle that “the broadest shoulders have to carry the heaviest burdens”.  This means that those who are able to give the biggest help, will do so.  And it is all done with the conviction that helping others is also helping yourself.  This is true in your class, in your club, in your association, in your country, in Europe and in the world.  YOU help me, when I have problems. And I help you, when YOU need it.  This is all nice to know, because we might all need help for different reasons now and then.


This mutual solidarity is a very important part of a welfare state.  And of how we perceive ourselves.  Or is it??


I have always been of the opinion that we are very good at that in Europe.  As a concrete example you may take the huge economic assistance, which we all via the EU have given to countries, which earlier were quite poor – such as Ireland, Greece, Spain and Portugal - after they became members of the EU.  Their development has been impressive. A study some years ago showed that if you just look at the money flow to these countries, about 66 % of it comes back to the “donor countries” in the form of purchases, etc. 


So, it is true to say that the cooperation in the EU to a large extent also is about helping those members which need it. 


Or said in another way:  Solidarity is not against anybody.  It is for somebody. Actually, it is for the long-term benefit to us all.


Now comes my problem ☹   We all agree that the corona pandemic is a huge problem for us all.  We are all hit by it. And hit hard.  But some of us are hit much, much harder than others. This is where solidarity has to its real value.  Are we all willing to show as much solidarity as we normally claim??


The perfect world does not exist. Not in Europe either. But the fact is that – with some delay – very important political initiatives have been taken to mobilise a huge assistance to those countries most in need.  Once again France and Germany have taken the initiative.  We should appreciate that.   But it is in my view very regrettable that some of the richest and best-well-off countries like The Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Finland and Denmark almost makes it an honour to say NO.  I will call it an AUTOMATIC NO, as soon as big, concrete programmes for assistance are presented.  You get the impression that they say to themselves:  The countries in trouble?  It is their own fault. Why should we help them !


So, you may say that the often highly praised SOLIDARITY has become a SOLI-WHAT!

Let us take a very concrete case.  We all know that our partner country ITALY has been very hard hit by the pandemic from the very start.  It was added to the huge refugee crisis, where the Italians to a large extent also were left to handle the problems by themselves. 


With our sense of solidarity it should be fairly straightforward to react fast and positively to the Italian requests for concrete help. 


What has been done?  The EU Commission has recently made an overview of how the other member states reacted to Italy’s cry for help.  The overview was made 100% based upon what each member state reported to the Commission about its help. 


Let us take some concrete cases from the report ( it contains much more):

1.     Staff for hospitals ( doctors nurses, paramedics, etc.)

·       Poland:   15 doctors and paramedics

·       Romania. Doctors and nurses

·       Denmark:  None ☹

2.     Beds in hospitals – and transport of Italian patients to these hospitals:

·       Germany:  85 places for patients in intensive care

·       Luxembourg:  12 places

·       Austria:  several hospital beds

·       Denmark:   None  ☹

3.     Medical equipment:

·       Germany:  7,5 tons of equipment

·       Denmark:  Some old and un-usable ventilators  ☹

4.     Protection equipment  ( masks, clothes, disinfection material, etc. )

·       Czech Republic:   10.000 protection clothes

·       Hungary:   1,6 mill. masks; 200.000 liter disinfection material

·       Poland:   200.000 liter disinfection material

·       France:   1 mill. masks; 20.000 protection clothes

·       Slovakia:  300.000 masks + disinfection material

·       Latvia:   60.000 masks

·       Lithuania:  protection masks and gloves

·       Estonia:   masks and disinfection material

·       Poland:   20.000 liter disinfection material

·       Denmark:   nothing ☹

Many member states are not mentioned in my short overview.  This does not mean that they are better or worse.   The Commission’s full report gives the details.



We I many years ago was actively involved in the communication around the preparations for the EU single market from 1992, we also experienced that some member states were better and faster at doing what they promised when removal of barriers for the new single market was concerned – and others were often falling behind the agreed deadlines.  That is why we started preparing overviews which we called FAME & SHAME.   These schemes showed very clearly who was on target as agreed – and who was not.  The schemes were distributed in each Council meeting with all the ministers – and also given to the press, of course.  It had a very positive effect.  Perhaps it is time to use the method once again !


And a last – and perhaps the most important remark:  


If we in the EU fail to help those member states in real difficulties, we will help the extreme, often fascist, political forces, which like Putin and Trump want to see the European Union fail.

  If is does so, it might well be replaced by a situation with everybody’s fight against everybody, and when it no longer is the law and solidarity which decides what will happen.  But where it once again will be the biggest and strongest countries, which are free to decide what will happen to all of us.


I think we have had more than enough of that over the centuries ☹


I believe that it is upon time that we – not only in words, but with concrete actions – show that we with pride may talk about our SOLIDARITY and not about SOLI-WHAT !