The solidarity clause is part of a proposal issued by the European Commission in March 2016, as part of a bigger policy revoking the older standards from 2010. Its main purpose is to split the entire European Union into different regions, which are evaluated together by risk and interconnection. These regions go beyond the Member States' boarders and are supposed to be the main focus when it comes to distribution of energy and the balance and diversity of energy resources. The main point behind this clause is that the states in the different regions would have to help out each another in possible shortfalls, which is currently highly controversial among the Member States.