The EU in the face of disaster: Implementing the Lisbon Treaty’s Solidarity Clause

Abstract:

The Council of the European Union is limbering up to implement the Lisbon Treaty's 'solidarity clause'. Under the terms of the clause, the EU and its members will be called upon to provide mutual assistance in cases of natural or man-made disasters as well as terrorist attacks.

If the implementation decision, to be taken in 2010, is to form the basis for effective crisis response, it will have to accommodate acute national sovereignty concerns.

For inspiration, the decision's formulators can look not only to the EU's experience in setting up the 2001 Civil Protection Mechanism but also to ongoing efforts to enshrine solidarity in the management of the EU's external borders.