Who Understands Germany’s Europapolitik?
There have recently been intense discussions in Germany’s EU partner countries over Berlin’s handling of the Greek debt crisis and its impact on the euro zone.
Has Germany fallen out of love with the European Union?
This is a question increasingly raised in Western capitals. Funny enough, Berlin seems to be immune to this debate. Over the last months, Germany’s “Europapolitik” was stuck in navel-gazing, either ignoring or not understanding the questions and criticism directed to the Merkel government from abroad.
A couple of new papers written by both German and European analysts have picked up the issue, aiming at explaining the “neue deutsche Europapolitik”.
Wolfgang Proissl, a journalist with Financial Times Deutschland who is currently a visiting fellow at the Brussels based think tank Bruegel, has written an excellent essay on Germany’s past, present and future role in Europe:
“Why Germany Fell out of Love with Europe”, Bruegel essays and lectures, Brussels, 1 July 2010.
Jacques Delors’ Paris based think tank “Notre Europe” has just published a compilation of papers of both German and European analysts, discussing “Where is Germany Heading?”:
“Where is Germany Heading?” (directed by Renaud Dehousse and Elvire Fabry), Notre Europe Studies and Research 79, Paris 2010.
How will the European Unon and its members accomodate the “new” Germany?