| Author (Person) | Janning, Josef |
|---|---|
| Publisher | European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) |
| Series Title | Commentary |
| Series Details | 11.11.14 |
| Publication Date | 11/11/2014 |
| Content Type | Journal | Series | Blog, News |
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A generation ago, the Berlin wall fell. With it went the geopolitical environment to which German foreign policy had almost perfectly adapted. Twenty-five years later, Germany seems more powerful in its European context than it ever has been before – but much less purposeful. Leaders such as François Mitterand, Margaret Thatcher, and Giulio Andreotti anticipated that German unification would lead to German power, and so viewed the prospect with scepticism. This point of view has been confirmed, but not in the way the leaders expected. Germany did not cut its ties with the European Union, but Berlin has phased out its ambitions towards deeper integration. Berlin seems to be comfortable with the degree to which re-nationalisation and intergovernmentalism has taken over the EU, not least because it underlines Germany’s singular position in European affairs. At the same time, Germany seems reluctant to be more active in wielding power internationally, shying away from both the risks and costs of greater responsibility. In doing so, Berlin risks weakening European integration and damaging its own positive international reputation. To live up to its current power and to prevent a further rise of the disintegrative potential of the German question, Germany’s foreign policy – and especially its EU dimension – needs to change. The political class and the public will have to make a decision whether to move ahead into a looser form of EU integration governed primarily by consensus in the European Council, or to advance integration towards political union with more powers in the fiscal and social fields and additional layers of solidarity. Both options have their own sets of costs and risks, making them both unappealing to the current German leadership. But the strategy of waiting it out is untenable. A choice needs to be made, and it must be hoped that in searching for the way forward, Germany might learn something from looking back some 25 years. |
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| Source Link | http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_germany_then_and_now343 |
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| Countries / Regions | Germany |
