A Research Presentation organised in the framework of the European Governance and Politics Programme’s Seminar Series.
To the surprise of many, the German government in the corona crisis eventually pushed for a debt-financed EU recovery fund for the fight against the pandemic. How can we explain this impetus, especially in view of the reticent German fiscal stance in previous years and in the early stages of the pandemic? In order to trace, and explain, German preferences, this paper revisits and combines different EU theories. It shows three things: national preference formation and EU-level deliberations happened simultaneously, rather than successively, and they reinforced each other; a domestic constraining dissensus did not materialize, despite the government’s European commitments; and powerful domestic interests aligned with, rather than shaped, governmental positions. Whether German action during the corona crisis will represent a long-term change in its EU and fiscal stances largely depends on the successful implementation of the recovery fund.
Speakers: Amandine Crespy, Associate Professor in Political Science, ULB and Lucas Schramm, PhD Researcher, EUI, and ULB Visting Fellow
Chair: Prof. Daniele Caramani
*This event will be on Zoom. Registered participants will receive the meeting ID and password on the day of the event.