University of California at Berkeley, Center for German and European Studies

Germany's Role In Shaping the New Europe: Architect, Model and Bridge
Conducted jointly by the American Institute for for Contemporary German Studies and the UC Centerfor German and European Studies

Conceptual Approaches to German Policy in Europe: Making Sense of Continuity

Thomas Banchoff, Government Dept. of Government, Georgetown University

Working Paper 7.9 April 1996

This paper seeks to explain the continuity in German policy in Europe across the 1990 divide. Although the collapse of the Soviet bloc and reunification transformed the context of German foreign policy, its fundamental direction remained unchanged. The new Germany, like the old, made solidarity with the western allies the cornerstone of its policy in Europe. Chancellor Helmut Kohl did address new policy challenges in the East. But he made stronger western institutions, and a deeper European Union in particular, his top priorities. Neorealism and neoliberalism, this paper argues,

cannot adequately explain the strong western orientation of the Federal Republic in the early 1990s. The constellation of power and institutions at the international level left German leaders with different ways to combine association with the West and engagement in the East. In order to explain the priority accorded solidarity with the West, it is necessary to bring in the foreign policy priorities espoused by Kohl and the views of history and its lessons that informed them.

Marbled Diplomacy: Germany's Role in the Integration of East and West Europe

Patricia A. Davis Dept. of Government and International Studies University of Notre Dame

Working Paper 7.10 April 1996

This paper argues that Germany's role in the integration of East and West Europe is a combination of architect, model and bridge. Using evidence from German efforts at cross-border cooperation with Poland, it suggests that diverse actors in Germany have created new institutions to facilitate integration (architect), that these integrative efforts take place at all levels of governance, and in particular, promote the principle of subsidiarity (model) and that these institutions serve as a firm anchor for Poland in its process of western integration (bridge). Yet it remains to be seen what overall impact these institutions will have on developments in Poland. Since German actors tend to dominate Polish ones in terms of resources (both organizational and financial), some cooperative efforts generate asymmetrical or negative results. Moreover, historical legacies in terms of past German behavior still affect political outcomes. However, the author contends that certain changes in German foreign policy-making could overcome these barriers. Above all, since the most engaged actors tend to be subnational as well as semi-autonomous, the opportunities for regional integration, and thus, reconciliation from below, are greatly enhanced.

Germany as Architect of European Integration and Eastern Europe

Christian Deubner Stiftung Wissenschaft and Politik, Ebenhausen University of California

Working Paper 7.11 April 1996

The quest for stability in the new Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain is the overriding interest of Germany in its European policy for the turn of the century: stability and security in the East via EU-enlargement, stability for the existing European Union of the Fifteen and its structures and procedures, stability for the intra-European monetary relations, for the bilateral relationship with France, and for the perennial challenge which the German weight poses for its smaller neighbors. All of these are to be pursued within one and the same European Integration policy. The result is a growing number of contradictions within this policy which have to be resolved, if European integration is not to be at risk in the coming years.

Germany and the European Union: Its Role as Architect in the Shaping of Political Union

Lily Gardner Feldman Center for German and European Studies Georgetown University

Working Paper 7.12 April 1996

This paper develops the concept of"architect" to describe, interpret, and understand the role Germany has played in the framing of political union in the European Community/European Union before 1989 and up through the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference. It evaluates existing conceptual literature on the issue of European architecture (realism and collective security), and on the question of Germany's role in Europe (leader and hegemon) before outlining the benefits of the constructivist and nuanced power approaches. In terms of substance, the paper focuses on all three aspects of political union: the EU's internal character, its external profile, and enlargement to the East. German Cooperative Federalism in Europe: Lander as Architects of Integration

JoEllyn Murillo Fountain Dept. of Political Scienc University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Working Paper 7.13 April 1996

German cooperative federalism is important for the evolution of the new Europe in two ways: as a concept, it provides a model of decentralization and democracy for Eastern and Western Europe and the EU; and, through its operation, federalism has allowed the federal states (Lander) to serve as architects of European politics. The exact institutions are not transferable to other countries, but the processes of centralized legislation and decentralized implementation in Germany can serve as a model for some unitary states in Europe. Cooperative federalism has allowed the Lander considerable influence on domestic politics and latitude to act on their own behalf in foreign relations. As a result, they have affected the institutional evolution and decision making patterns in the EU and have potential to help build bridges between Eastern and Western Europe--which has international political and theoretical significance outside Europe in demonstrating the importance of Non-Central Governments (NCGs) in foreign affairs.

Germany's Social and Industrial Order: Will it weather European Integration and Economic Globalization?

Stefan Immerfall Dept. of Political Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Working Paper 7.14 April 1996

The German economy is in trouble. The threefold challenge of cyclical downturn, structural adjustment and German unification has lead many observers to question the viability of the German social market model. Against this backdrop, the paper contends that the basics of German's meso-coordinated market economy will prevail. First, the model is described and charges of rigid inflexibility are put into perspective. Second, its institutional adaptability to European integration and economic globalization is discussed. It is concluded that while Germany's form of institutional arrangement of market relations certainly needs adjustments and is not a blueprint to be exported to its European neighbors, it nevertheless will be pivotal for emerging European capitalism.

The Influence of Domestic Political and Economic Actors on Germany's European Policy

Michael Kreile Dept. of Political Science Humboldt-Universitat, Berlin

Working Paper 7.15 April 1996

This article explores the changing domestic politics of Germany's European integration policy. It demonstrates that attitudes towards European integration among the public have become more ambivalent. The political elite, however, continues to support the Kohl government's commitment to the deepening and widening of the EU. But the government is subject to more constraints as institutional pluralism has increased. This manifests itself in the greater role of the Lander in European policy-making, the Constitutional Court's decision concerning the Maastricht Treaty, and the opposition of the Bundesbank to monetary union. As European integration involves ever higher stakes, the defense of German interests is deemed to require the reproduction of German institutions at the European level.

Ein Auslaufendes Modell? The German Social Market Economy in the European Union

Carl Lankowski American Institute for Contemporary German Studies Washington, DC

Working Paper 7.16

The German "social market" model has always depended on external institutional parameters, particularly those defining the project of European integration. A recalibration of the EC/EU social space has issued from differentiation of the content of social policy. In addition to the presence of new policy subjects, central to this process have been the characteristics of specific policy areas as well as the overall effects of the incompleteness of Europe's supranational polity. Despite the current phase of loosely coordinated national approaches to both main dimensions of social policy, medium term trends suggest a deepening in the Europeanization of social norms and institutions. This outcome will be manifested by a gradual, piecemeal decline in the distinction between the German model and a more encompassing European social model.

Germany as Bridge: Foreign Cultural Policy of the FRG Concepts and Performance Before and After 1989

Barbara Lippert Institut fur Europaische Politik, Bonn

Working Paper 7.17 July 1996

By definition, Foreign Cultural Policy (FCP) is regarded as an integral part of the FRG's foreign policy. While reflecting some aspects of the general debate on unified Germany's new foreign policy, the implications of increased international responsibility after 1989 for FCP are hardly spelled out beyond catchwords like globalization, economisation and renationaliasation versus more European and multicultural approaches. Also, in the light of images of the Angstnachbar there is an obvious demand for explaining the new and bigger Germany in the East as in the West. So far, the revived public interest in FCP in the nineties and the more frequent dialogue between representatives of the mixed FCP-system have not created a reform agenda for FCP. This paper argues that the massive FCP-activities vis-a-vis Central and Eastern Europe mainly show a process of normalization and catching-up with the standards of cultural and societal interaction with other regions in the world. This eastward rebalancing neither indicates a politico-strategic shift, nor establishes a cultural hegemony in this region.

Germany as Bridge: German Foreign Cultural Policy in a Changing Europe

Andrei S. Markovits Board of Studies in Politics University of California, Santa Cruz Carolyn Hofig Board of Studies in Politics University of California, Santa Cruz

Working Paper 7.18 April 1996

Post-war German foreign cultural policy crafted a bridge of reconciliation, cooperation and understanding between Germany and its neighbors and allies. The complex, decentralized but flexible structure of the Federal Republic's international cultural program met the challenge of German unification, but 1990 also marked a significant transition for auswartige Kulturpolitik. Cultural contacts within the European Union in many ways represent the apex of pre-Wende West German foreign cultural policy. This paper traces these developments and offers a preliminary prognosis of the cultural presence of the new Germany in a new Europe.

Germany and the Balance between Threats and Capacities in Europe

Daniel N. Nelson Dept. of Political Science and Geography Old Dominion University

Working Paper 7.19 April 1996

An enlarged German role in Euro-Atlantic security--a "security provider"--must occur and is occurring. But the manner in which Germans take their place as a "Great Power" risks renewed suspicions among Germany's neighbors. Germany's security dilemma is to play a bigger part in ensuring a balance between threats and capacities in Europe and the world, without appearing to be a threat and thereby encouraging a race to accumulate weapons and to seek other allies. In this paper public and elite perceptions of Germany as a "security-provider" are examined, with neighbors' unease about German economic power and military potential clearly evident. German political leaders, however, are thus far pursuing those interests via a capacity-focused foreign policy. Alternative strategies for German foreign policy are suggested here that would emphasize threat abatement rather than building capacities via stronger German participation in NATO's projection of power.

Germany's Security Policy after Unification: Taking the Wrong Models

Susanne Peters Dept. of Political Science, York University

Working Paper 7.20 April 1996

The analysis of Germany's security policy after unification suggests that Germany used its freedom of action for restructuring its military forces into a foreign policy instrument - thus catching up with the two major European powers, France and Britain. However, in view of its historical burden, Germany is expected to adhere to a policy of multilateralism and Western integration. In terms of Germany's traditional priority conflicts between cooperating with France or the United States for organizing its security policy, Germany made its transatlantic security policy within the framework of NATO a top priority. Giving the mandate for Europe's security to a military alliance, however, will backfire in the search for sustainable solutions to Europe's violent conflicts.

German Politics with Respect to the European Economic and Monetary Union

Elke Thiel Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Ebenhausen

Working Paper 7.21 April 1996

The Economic and Monetary Union can be viewed as an excellent case for investigating strains of continuity in German policy with regard to the deepening of the EU and its own control over the transfer of sovereignty. The project was launched at the time of the German EC-presidency in 1988 with German political objectives and was framed by German economic priorities. It became feasible when other EC members shifted their policies. Due to this rapprochement with France, Germany particularly was able to promote European integration through the EMU in line with intrinsic German economic goals.

Conceptual Approaches to German Policy in Europe: An old Suspicion and a new Mission

Wolfgang Wessels Politische Wissenschaft Universitat zu Koln

Working Paper 7.22 April 1996

The public discourse on the European Union (EU) is marked all over Europe and in Germany by a strange mixture of intensity, controversy, ambiguity and confusion. Not least because the Federal Republic of Germany did move, to a greater extent than before, into the "heart of Europe" geographically, economically and politically. Confronted with a set of opinion ranging from a federally inspired deepening of the EU, to a widely dispersed "Europe a la carte", German politicians will try to pursue a multitier approach in order to progress towards a Political Union and at the same time open a process of step-by-step deepening. Such piece-meal engineering might also be helpful and even necessary to keep the present EU-wide consensus which appears to be even less secure than that found within the FRG.