Debating Legitimacy and Solidarity in the European Parliament: Patterns of Opposition and Conflict During the Pandemic

To cope with the socio‐economic consequences of the Covid‐19 pandemic, the EU has adopted a new approach by launching an instrument aimed at promoting cross‐national solidarity, called Next Generation EU. This could trigger major changes in terms of EU power and authority, calling into question the polity's legitimacy, and the kind of solidarity to be embodied in the European system. As part of the scholarly debate on transnational solidarity, the article focuses on the politicisation of the Covid‐19 crisis within the European Parliament, with a focus on opposition parties. By applying discourse analysis, the article explains how the crisis has acted as a catalyst for framing opposition parties' stances about the relationship between legitimacy and solidarity in the EU polity. Furthermore, the article examines how opposition parties have assessed their competing views on the role of the EU's political system and on future developments in the integration process.