The end of permissive consensus
Germany is an indispensable motor of European integration. Inside the European framework and in close cooperation with France, Germany has exerted considerable leadership in shaping European institutions and defining norms and principles for crucial European projects such as the Single Market or the Euro. Traditionally, there has been an unconditional pro-European consensus in Germany. European integration has always defined Germany’s post-war politics because close cooperation and coordination with its European partners allowed Germany to rehabilitate itself as a political actor after WWII.
Read the full article here on Clingendael's EU Forum blog.
Julie Hamann is program officer in the Franco-German relations program of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and Julian Rappold is program officer at the Alfred von Oppenheim-Center for European Policy Studies at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).
