Külügyi Szemle - A Magyar Külügyi Intézet folyóirata - 2011 (10. évfolyam)
2011 / 1. szám - AZ UNIÓ ÉS AZ EURÓVÁLSÁG - Kiss J. László: Euróválság és intézményi hatalom: változások a német EU-politikában
Euróválság és intézményi hatalom: változások a német EU-politikában 64 Almut Möller: „A Tip-Toing Elephant: Germany in the European Union Twenty Years on". Ini Forging the Future of Germany and Europe. Reflections on 20 Years of German Unification (szerk. Wolfgang Ischinger, Josef Joffe, John Kornblum, Almut Möller, Mary Elise Sarotte, és Robert B. Zoellick). Washington: American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University, 2010. 28. o. Résumé László J. Kiss: The euro crisis and institutional poiver: Changes in German European policy The author examines the German behavior during the euro crisis and in the debates following the Greek sovereign debt crisis with regard to the interaction between external and internal factors, as well as its impact on Franco-German relations. In the 2010 crisis Germany found itself in a leadership position that it has not sought and that it seemed at times reluctant to fill. The Merkel government insisted on the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact (especially the non-bail-out clause) arguing that it was the only way to defend European interests and the stability of currency. This opinion was seen as "anti-European" by those member states that wanted Germany to take the lead, as they believed non-action would futher worsen the situation. Twenty years after the reunification, Germany's relationship with Europe has profoundly changed. Since the period in office by former Chancellor Schroeder, Germany has openly defended its "enlightened" national interests and the society has increasingly felt overburdened and tired of leading the Union. Germany has contirbuted the lion's share to the Greek rescue package and consequently the German government and indirectly the German taxpayers as well have demanded more say in setting tough credit conditions for Greece, signalling the increased politicization of European policy, and the growing interdependence between domestic policy and European policy. During the Greek sovereign debt crisis, it was recognizable that the German politics follows rather than controls the public opinion. Other domestic factors proved to be also influential in reshaping Germany's European policy like the restrictive rulings of Constitutional Court on Lisbon treaty, the constitutional trauma and the weakness of European institutions. The general feeling of belonging to the union has not been put into question either by political elite or the majority of German citizens but the new generation seems to be more prone to prefer a Germany being as "normal" as other large member states. Germany's less visionary and more pragmatic behavior, as well as the German reinterpretation of European solidarity have revitalised the old and new narratives on Germany's European role, ranging from the "new neo-Gaullist" and "British Germany", as well as perceptions of Germany as global trade nation to the question of "how European is Germany today?" or "why Germany fell out of love with Europe?" Germany's power is in norms 2011. tavasz 69
