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No, Germany has never imposed austerity on the other European countries

In my doctoral thesis, I examine the European policy of the German Christian Democrats and Angela Merkel during the euro crisis. I seek to understand the long-term factors that explain Germany’s attitude during the economic 2008 crisis and the euro crisis. To what extent can can I say that Germany did not assume its responsibilities in Europe during the euro crisis? Is not the austerity policy imposed on Greece an example of the apparent German intransigence vis-à-vis countries in southern Europe which were in difficulty during the euro crisis?

The hypothesis of this study is based on the concept of the dilemma of globalization. This notion describes the fact that nation states engaged in globalization face a dilemma. Either they accept an ever greater degree of international economic and political integration and gain access to international markets and enjoy the benefits of international cooperation. Either states reject international cooperation and seek to maintain the bulk of political decision-making at nation state level: they hope to maintain national democratic institutions at the risk of international isolation. The central contention of this work is thus the following: the European policy of Germany during the euro crisis is not characterized by a unilateral “austerity” strategy or by the will to submit Greece to a policy. It is actually about limiting the political and economic cost of European integration without endangering the future of the euro.

To demonstrate that hypothesis, this study first seeks to show that German policy aims at adapting Germany to the globalization. But secondly, it is argued that the dilemma of globalization results in a growing gap between this adaptation to globalization and the cost it entails at the national level. Finally, in the last part of the thesis, this work shows that the German political landscape thus changed from the 2000s due to the emergence of new “populist” parties (Die Linke, Alternative für Deutschland), the decline of traditional parties. (SPD, CDU/CSU) and the progress of the Greens. This corresponds to a new cleavage between the “sovereignists” who reject European integration and globalization and the “cosmopolitans” supporters of economic openness and integration into globalization. The dilemma of globalization thus works in depth in contemporary Germany, and undoubtedly more than the project to subject Greece to an ordoliberal authoritarian project.

 


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Baudry Pierre (February 10, 2024). No, Germany has never imposed austerity on the other European countries. Deciphering international politics - religion, economics and international affairs. Retrieved March 17, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/tl2h


Baudry Pierre

Ph.D. CNRS/EPHE (Paris), Assistant professor.

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