Germany and the European Union


Book Description

Winner of the UACES Best Book Prize 2020 The jury commented 'It is impossible to study or understand European integration without understanding Germany's role and place in this. This book is therefore a must-read'. This new textbook offers a path-breaking interpretation of the role of the European Union's most important member state: Germany. Analyzing Germany's domestic politics, European policy, relations with partners, and the resultant expressions of power within the EU, the text addresses such key questions as whether Germany is becoming Europe's hegemon, and if Berlin's European policy is being constrained by its internal politics. The authors – both leading scholars in the field – situate these questions in their historical context and bring the subject up to date by considering the centrality of Germany to the liberal order of the EU over the last turbulent decade in relation to events including the Eurozone crisis and the 2017 German federal election. This is the first comprehensive and accessible guide to a fascinating relationship that considers both the German impact on the EU and the EU's impact on Germany. This book is the ideal companion for undergraduate and postgraduate students who are studying the European Union or German Politics from the perspectives of disciplines as wide ranging as Politics, European Union Studies, Area Studies, Economics, Business and History. It is also an essential resource for all those studying or practicing EU policy-making and communication.




Poland and Germany in the European Union


Book Description

This book explores the political and social dynamics of the bilateral relations between Germany and Poland at the national and subnational levels, taking into account the supranational dynamics, across such different policy areas as trade, foreign and security policy, energy, fiscal issues, health and social policy, migration and local governance. By studying the impact of the three explanatory categories – the historical legacy, interdependence and asymmetry – on the bilateral relationship, the book explores the patterns of cooperation and identifies the driving forces and hindering factors of the bilateral relationship. Covering the Polish–German relationship since 2004, it demonstrates, in a systematic way, that it does not qualify as embedded bilateralism. The relationship remains historically burdened and asymmetric, and thus it is not resilient to crises. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of European and EU Politics, German politics, East/Central European Politics, borderlands studies, and more broadly, for international relations, history and sociology.




Germany and the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union


Book Description

This study assesses the influence of German policy makers on EU policy and the impact of EU membership on foreign policy making at the national level. The book concludes that limitations remain on the Europeanization of German foreign and security policy and Germany's ability to play a leading role in military crisis management.




States and Regions in the European Union


Book Description

This book analyses the impact of Europeanization on domestic politics and the relationship between states and regions.




Germany’s Role in European Russia Policy


Book Description

This book contributes to the debate about a new German power in Europe with an analysis of Germany’s role in European Russia policy. It provides an up-to-date account of Germany’s “Ostpolitik” and how Germany has influenced EU-Russia relations since the Eastern enlargement in 2004 - partly along, partly against the interests and preferences of new member states. The volume combines a rich empirical analysis of Russia policy with a theory-based perspective on Germany’s power and influence in the EU. The findings demonstrate that despite Germany’s central role, exercising power within the EU is dependent on legitimacy and acceptance by other member states.




The Idea of Europe


Book Description

Discusses how a distinctive 'European' identity has grown over the centuries, especially with the EU.




Beyond the Regulatory Polity?


Book Description

This volume explores the involvement of the European Union in the exercise of core state powers such as foreign and defense policy, public finance, public administration, and the maintenance of law and order.




Leadership in the Eurozone


Book Description

Leadership of powerful states and organizations is crucial for the success of regional integration projects. This book offers a theoretical model explaining such leadership. By applying the model to eurozone governance and reform, the book combines innovative theorizing on leadership in regional and international affairs with original research on Economic and Monetary Union politics. Six in-depth case studies analyze the (non-)leadership of Germany and EU institutions in eurozone crisis management. Moreover, the book evaluates the eurozone’s leadership record since the outbreak of its crisis and helps readers understand the leadership of collective actors, and the extent to which they can contribute to overcoming crisis and fostering European integration. In particular, the book investigates the under-researched questions of who provided leadership in the eurozone crisis and why, and which conditions are required to achieve successful leadership in the EU.




German Politics Today


Book Description

This is the first monograph-length study that charts the coercive diplomacy of the administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford as practised against their British ally in order to persuade Edward Heath's government to follow a more amenable course throughout the 'Year of Europe' and to convince Harold Wilson's governments to lessen the severity of proposed defence cuts. Such diplomacy proved effective against Heath but rather less so against Wilson. It is argued that relations between the two sides were often strained, indeed, to the extent that the most 'special' elements of the relationship, that of intelligence and nuclear co-operation, were suspended. Yet, the relationship also witnessed considerable co-operation. This book offers new perspectives on US and UK policy towards British membership of the European Economic Community; demonstrates how US détente policies created strain in the 'special relationship'; reveals the temporary shutdown of US-UK intelligence and nuclear co-operation; provides new insights in US-UK defence co-operation, and re-evaluates the US-UK relationship throughout the IMF Crisis.




Public Administration in Germany


Book Description

This open access book presents a topical, comprehensive and differentiated analysis of Germany’s public administration and reforms. It provides an overview on key elements of German public administration at the federal, Länder and local levels of government as well as on current reform activities of the public sector. It examines the key institutional features of German public administration; the changing relationships between public administration, society and the private sector; the administrative reforms at different levels of the federal system and numerous sectors; and new challenges and modernization approaches like digitalization, Open Government and Better Regulation. Each chapter offers a combination of descriptive information and problem-oriented analysis, presenting key topical issues in Germany which are relevant to an international readership.