"Germany and the European Community: the State and Integration"

Edwards, Geoffrey. (1991) "Germany and the European Community: the State and Integration". In: UNSPECIFIED, Fairfax, Virginia. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The juxtaposition of the two Intergovernmental Conferences, on Economic and Monetary Union and on Political Union, and German unification raises important questions about the process of integration in Europe. In particular it throws in sharp relief the dynamics of integration - both at the formal government level and the more informal, economic levels - and conceptions of the state as epitomised by the reappearance of a single Germany. The reactions of several EC member governments in the helterskelter of moves to unity were markedly 'realist', most notably the British, who emphasised the likely nationalist aspirations of the new Germany and therefore seeking safety both in national solutions and a balance of power in Europe. Others, characterised eventually by France, and basing themselves on not dissimilar assumptions, sought the safer anchorage of the Germany within a more close-knit European Community. To a significant extent the confusion of reactions allowed the European Commission to take the initiative. Its immediate impact may appear to have been limited but, when set against the political and economic contest in which German unification has to be set, it remains a central actor. Moreover, the paper suggests that that wider and deeper framework of transnational ties and relationships provides the more appropriate background against which to ask the question of how Germany might change because of unification. And finally, it poses rather than answers questions about the possible insights the German case has for integration theory.

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