The great engine both of Europe’s economic strength and its political unity is falling out of love with its creation. Some fear that Germany has outgrown Europe – but either way the consequences of German disaffection are profound for both the EU and its other member states
French and German ministers are set to meet in Paris on 4 February. While it looks like the engine that helps drive Europe is running again, we may get nothing more than handshakes
The European Union will start 2010 under von Rompuy and Ashton. This duo is supposed to provide the Union with a single voice in the wider world. Will it?
With the rest of Europe preoccupied with the van Rompuy and Ashton appointments, the French Europe Minister, Pierre Lellouche, picked the best time to announce some bad news: there will no joint Franco-German minister
Germany will continue to dissapoint the rest of Europe. Angela Merkel will remain cautious and resistant to grand plans, no matter how much Europeans want her to act
Like Greece, Spain and Germany, Britain now faces a cathartic moment when it needs to decide what price it is worth paying to stay in the European Union: coolheaded rationality must prevail over emotion
Dimitar Bechev, Silvia Francescon, Ulrike Guérot, Thomas Klau, Mark Leonard, Jonas Parello-Plesner, José Ignacio Torreblanca
Commentary
Views from the Capitals
On Thursday EU leaders will meet in Brussels to discuss the EU budget for the next seven years. ECFR experts in Spain, the UK, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany and Italy tell us what to expect.
Germany and Poland have become close political allies. The future of the European Union may be decided in Berlin and Warsaw. But has Poland replaced France as Germany's most trusted European partner?
As part of the ’Reinventing Europe' project, ECFR is publishing a series of papers on the national debates within EU member states over the crisis and the future direction of Europe. The sixth paper in the series analyses the situation in Germany ahead of the Constitutional Court's crucial ESM verdict.
In its attempts to rescue the euro, Germany is often seen as the odd country out. However, what is seldom understood abroad is that the German position is about more than limiting its own fiscal exposure.
Marco de Andreis, Konstanty Gebert, François Godement, Ulrike Guérot, José Ignacio Torreblanca
Commentary
Views from the Capitals
How does the EU summit look from Berlin, Madrid, Rome and Warsaw, and what are the expectations? Four of ECFR's experts tell us how they see the gathering of EU leaders and whether anybody should be optimistic about the outcome.
Understanding how Berlin thinks is now more important than ever. If EU leaders want Angela Merkel to listen to calls for growth, they first need to understand her economic mindset which is deeply rooted in a concept known as 'ordoliberalism'.
Germany has fallen out of love with Europe, and its customary role as the uncomplaining engine of the EU. But as other EU members question whether Germany is now ‘going it alone’, Berlin must answer questions about what Germany wants from Europe in the 21st century, and what price it is willing to pay for it
Eine interessengeleite deutsche Europapolitik ersetzt zunehmend die historisch bedingte Symbiose zwischen Deutschland und Europa. Im post-romantischen Europa des 21.Jahrhunderts bestimmt sich Deutschlands Rolle neu – wie viel Europa darf es sein und was ist der Preis von Nicht-Europa?
Ulrike Guérot quoted on Franco-German relations and the return of European Realpolitik
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