Abstract
For many observers, the primacy given to individual rights in Europe is symptomatic of a renunciation of the promises of equality and the demands of social solidarity. The use made of the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights is said to fuel a radical individualism that obscures the reality of power relations on the ground and neglects collective solidarity. There is some truth in this criticism. However, the fact that human rights have sometimes served as an alibi for abandoning a genuine project of solidarity should not lead us to desert them, but rather to explore their internal resources, which could support ambitious social or ecological policies. This effort at elucidation presupposes questioning the contributions and ambivalences of the concepts of " responsibilities " and " duties " mentioned in the preamble to the Charter.
