EUROPEAN CONVENTION: ROMANO PRODI HAILS SOLIDARITY AS KEY EUROPEAN IDENTITY.

• Position: European Union

Romano Prodi maintains that the three study groups are catering for the same requirement: rethinking who we are and were we want to go. The first group, chaired by the former French Finance Minister, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is tasked with probing Europe's economic and social future. The second one, jointly chaired by the writers Assia Bensalah Alaoui and Jean Daniel, is examining the Euro-Mediterranean cross-cultural dialogue. The third group is studying the cultural and spiritual dimensions of Europe. Chaired by Krysztof Michalski, Professor of Philosophy at Warsaw University, the group has had the opportunity to examine four topics: culture and religion as a basis for European solidarity with an eye to the coming economic and political challenges, their relationship to European foreign policy and potential cultural differences between Europe and the United States. Two main findings emerged from this initial debate, in late January: economic inequalities and the need to promote a European bond of solidarity.

Pinpointed as the pivotal issue, the concept of solidarity was a key component of the May 5 discussions. The issue of how to define the concept has yet to be resolved. It tends to vary according to the economic, social, political or cultural context. Alberto Quadrio Curzio, Professor of Political Economy at the Catholic University of Milan, makes a distinction between "static" solidarity and the "dynamic" variety. Kurt Biedenkopf, former Prime Minister of Saxony, and Simone Veil, erstwhile President of the European Parliament, stress the difference between institutional (collective) and private (individual) solidarity. Disagreements have...