5. And finally, the unease at the 2000 Nice Summit that institutional upheavals should make sure that Germany retained national ‘weight’ in the post-enlargement union (Anderson, 1999).
Germany and France have historically been close trading partners. Barring the aftermath of the Second World War period, their relationship has grown in confidence yet again. This is a worrying sign for Britain in particular, which is set to lose business opportunities with France as a result. More generally though, the trajectory is for Europe to be less congenial for Germany, and for Germany to be less embedded in European structures. This does not mean that the ambiguous positioning of Germany will destabilize the European Union. On the other hand, “the growing focus on costs and benefits and changing values of Europe are both attempts to rebalance Euro-federalism and create a new, different framework in which a different Germany can continue to feel at home” (Paterson , 2003). In this new European order, existing and future member nations of the EU will have to co-operate and play their respective roles in the process of re-orienting the continent as well as learning to agree that lesser reliance on the Franco-German trading arrangements will help drive further integration.
References:
S. Green et al (2008), The Politics of the New Germany, chapter 9: ‘Germany and the European Union: a European Germany or a German Europe?’.
W. Paterson (1996) ‘Beyond semi-sovereignty: the new Germany in the new Europe’ German Politics 5(2): 167-184.
William E. Paterson (2003), ‘Germany and Europe’, in S. Padgett, William E. Paterson, and Gordon Smith (eds), Developments in German Politics 3, pp. 206—226.
H. Tewes (1998) ‘Between deepening and widening: role conflict in Germany’s enlargement policy’ West European Politics 21(2): 117—133.
J. Anderson (1999) German Unification and the Union of Europe. The Domestic Politics of Integration Policy (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press)
S. Bulmer, A. Maurer and W. Paterson (2001) ‘The European policy-making machinery in the Berlin Republic: hindrance or handmaiden?’ German Politics 10(1) pages 177-206.
Kenneth Dyson (2003), ‘The Europeanization of German Governance’, in S. Padgett,
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Tewes, H. (April 1998). Between deepening and widening: role conflict in Germany’s enlargement policy. West European Politics, 21, n2. p.117(17).
Green, S. (Oct 2001). Immigration, asylum and citizenship in Germany: The impact of unification and the Berlin republic. West European Politics, 24, 4. p.82(24).
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