Germany’s Position on the System Reform of the European Union in 2002–2016
Summary
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- About the author
- About the book
- Citability of the eBook
- Contents
- Series Information
- List of Abbreviations
- Introductory Remarks
- Chapter I. Germany’s Stance on the Establishment and the System Reform of the European Union
- 1 Intergovernmental Conference on Political Union (1990–1991)
- 2 Intergovernmental Conference on Economic and Monetary Union (1990–1991)
- 3 Evolution of German Stance on the EU System Reform in 1996–2001
- 3.1 Intergovernmental Conference of 1996–1997. The Amsterdam Treaty
- 3.2 Intergovernmental Conference of 2000. The Treaty of Nice
- Chapter II. Germany’s Position on the EU System Reform in the Years 2002–2005
- 1 The 2002–2003 Convention on the Future of Europe. The Draft Constitutional Treaty
- 1.1 Germany’s Influence on the Course of the Convention
- 1.1.1 Stance of the Government Coalition and the Parliamentary Opposition on System Changes in the EU
- 1.1.2 System Changes in the European Union Proposed by the German Delegation
- 1.1.2.1 International Legal Status of the European Union
- 1.1.2.2 Axiology of the European Union
- 1.1.2.3 Distribution of Competences between the European Union and the Member States
- 1.1.2.4 Institutional System
- 1.1.2.5 Enhanced Cooperation
- 1.1.2.6 Democratic Legitimacy
- 1.1.2.7 Common Foreign and Security Policy Reform
- 1.1.2.8 Reform of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
- 1.2 Convention’s Draft Reviewed by the Coalition Government (SPD/Alliance 90/The Greens)
- 1.3 Review of Convention’s Draft by the Parliamentary Opposition (CDU/CSU, FDP and PDS)
- 1.3.1 Christian Democratic Parties
- 1.3.2 Liberals
- 1.3.3 PDS
- 2 Intergovernmental Conference of 2003–2004. The Constitutional Treaty
- 2.1 German Government’s Run-Up to the Intergovernmental Conference
- 2.2 Meetings of the Intergovernmental Conference
- 2.2.1 Federal Government’s Diplomatic Efforts to Maintain the status quo Specified under the Draft Constitutional Treaty
- 2.2.2 Federal Government’s Tactics at the Intergovernmental Conference
- 2.3 Ratification of the Constitutional Treaty in Germany
- Chapter III. Germany’s Stance on the EU System Reform in the Years 2005–2009
- 1 Germany’s Run-Up to the Presidency of the European Union during the Constitutional Crisis
- 2 German Presidency of the European Union
- 2.1 Berlin Declaration
- 2.2 Mandate for the Intergovernmental Conference
- 3 Intergovernmental Conference of 2007. The Treaty of Lisbon
- 3.1 Meetings of the Intergovernmental Conference
- 3.2 Ratification Process of the Treaty of Lisbon and the Judgement of the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany
- Chapter IV. Germany’s Position on the EU System Reform and the Economic and Monetary Union (2011–2016)
- 1 First Phase of the Reform (2012–2015)
- 1.1 Proposed Amendments to Secondary Legislation
- 1.2 Implementation of Amendments to Secondary Legislation and outside EU Law
- 2 Second Phase of the Reform (from 1 July 2015)
- 2.1 Proposed Amendments to Secondary Legislation
- 2.2 Implementation of Amendments to Secondary Legislation
- 3 Public Debate in Germany
- 3.1 First Phase of the Debate (2011–2012)
- 3.1.1 Federal Government’s Stance
- 3.1.2 Stance of German Political Parties
- 3.1.2.1 Christian Democratic Union
- 3.1.2.2 Free Democratic Party
- 3.1.2.3 Alliance 90/The Greens
- 3.1.2.4 Social Democratic Party of Germany
- 3.1.2.5 Christian Social Union
- 3.1.2.6 The Left
- 3.2 Second Phase of the Debate (2012–2015)
- 3.2.1 Evolution of the Federal Government’s Stance
- 3.2.2 Evolution of the Stance of German Political Parties
- 3.3 Third Phase of the Debate (from 1 July 2015)
- 4 Influence of the Federal Government on the Dynamics of the Eurozone Debt Crisis and the System Reform
- 4.1 Influence of the German Government on the Dynamics of the Eurozone Debt Crisis
- 4.2 Meeting and Report of the Reflection Group on the Future of Europe: the German Diplomatic Initiative
- 4.3 Influence of the Federal Government on the Course of the Eurozone System Reform so far
- Chapter V. Germany’s Stance on the European Migrant Crisis in 2015–2016
- 1 Dynamics of the European Migrant Crisis: from the First Symptoms (2011–2014) to the Peak Period (2015–2016)
- 2 Amendments to the Immigration Policy, External Borders Control and Asylum Policy of the European Union
- 2.1 Legal Grounds for Immigration Policy and External Borders Control
- 2.2 Implemented and Proposed Amendments to Secondary Law on Immigration Policy and External Borders Control following the Outbreak of the Migrant Crisis
- 2.3 Agreement between the European Union and Turkey of 18 March 2016 and New Aid Schemes, Humanitarian and Financial Aid Instruments in the Fight against the Crisis
- 2.4 Legal Grounds for Asylum Policy
- 2.5 Proposed Amendments to Secondary Legislation on Asylum Policy after the Outbreak of the Migrant Crisis
- 3 Stance of the Federal Government and the Parliamentary Opposition in Germany on the European Migrant Crisis
- 3.1 First Phase of the Crisis (2011–2014)
- 3.2 Second Phase of the Crisis (2015–2016)
- 3.3 Influence of the Federal Government on the Reform of Immigration and Asylum Policy of the European Union: Crisis Management or an Impulsive Act?
- Conclusions
- List of Tables, Charts and Diagrams
- Bibliography
- I. Archival and Printed Sources
- 1. Archives of the Intergovernmental Conference of 1996–1997
- 2. Archives of the Intergovernmental Conference of 2000
- 3. Archives of the Convention on the Future of Europe
- 4. Archives of the Intergovernmental Conference of 2003–2004
- 5. Archives of the Intergovernmental Conference of 2007
- 6. Documents of the European Council
- 7. Documents of the European Commission
- 8. Documents of the Council of the European Union/European Parliament
- 9. Legislative procedures
- 10. Treaties, International Agreements and Declarations
- 11. Documents of the Federal Government and Bundestag
- 12. Documents of German Political Parties
- 13. Legal Acts and Judgements
- 14. Collections of Documents
- II. Statistical Materials
- III. Monographs
- IV. Publications in Scientific Periodicals and Volumes
- V. Internet Publications
- Index of Names
STUDIES IN EUROPEAN INTEGRATION, STATE AND SOCIETY
Edited by Magdalena Góra, Zdzisław Mach and Katarzyna Zielińska
VOLUME 4
This monograph presents the evolution of Germany’s stance on the reform of the European Union (EU) in the years 2002–2016. In particular, the research objective pursued in this paper is to analyse the German government’s position on the treaty reform of the Union in the years 2002–2009 and, subsequently, changes in the secondary law in 2012–2016 caused by the eurozone debt crisis and the European migrant crisis. Consequently, the time frame adopted in the paper is specified on the one hand by events related to the convocation of the Convention on the Future of Europe in 2002, and on the other by events related to the system reform process in the euro area and changes in the immigration policy, external borders control and asylum policy occurring by 2016. The author formulates three research hypotheses in the paper. The first hypothesis is based on the assumption that the federal government played the leading role in the treaty reform of the EU in the years 2002–2005 and 2005–2009, resulting not only in the internal and external strengthening of the Union but also in a new power structure in the decision-making mechanism of the Council of the European Union (CEU) and the European Council (EC), which proved highly favourable for Germany. The second research hypothesis assumes that the federal government exerted actual impact not only on the dynamics of the eurozone debt crisis but also on the shape of the system reform of the area in the years 2012–2016, thus significantly strengthening Germany’s position in the EU in both economic and political sense. According to the third research hypothesis, poor decisions taken by the German government against the European migrant crisis, particularly its unsuccessful attempt to manage the said crisis and also the manner in which policy towards other Member States was pursued with regard to the reform of the Union’s immigration policy, external borders control and asylum policy, have consequently compromised Germany’s position in this international organisation.
Considering the above, it is the author’s intention to answer the following research questions in this monograph: first, what proposals regarding the treaty reform of the EU were put forward by the representatives of Germany at the 2002–2003 Convention and at the Intergovernmental Conferences (IGC) held in 2003–2004 and 2007?; second, what changes in secondary law were demanded by the German government with regard to the system reform of the euro area in the years 2012–2016 and the reform of immigration policy, external borders control and asylum policy of the EU in the years 2015–2016?; third, which of the ←17 | 18→German proposals were given priority by the federal government and for what reason?; fourth, how effective were the representatives of Germany and were they successful each time they attempted to force their postulates through?; fifth, what were the similarities and differences between the stances of parties composing government coalitions and the parliamentary opposition on the analysed events?
The said research objectives determine the structure of this monograph, which comprises five chapters. In Chapter I, the evolution of the federal government’s stance on the European Union system is presented, starting from the Treaty of Maastricht of 7 February 1992 and ending with the Treaty of Nice of 26 February 2001. Chapter II is dedicated to analysing the impact exerted by the German delegation on the course and outcomes of the 2002–2003 Convention on the Future of Europe and the 2003–2004 intergovernmental conference. Chapter III provides a discussion on the steps taken by the German government during the constitutional crisis of 2005–2006 and the 2007 intergovernmental conference. Chapter IV presents the course of a debate held in Germany on the measures aiming to resolve the 2011–2012 eurozone debt crisis, the resulting evolution of stances held by particular political parties on Germany’s EU policy at the turn of 2013, as well as the role the federal government has played in reforming the system of the euro area since 2012. Chapter V aims to discuss the stance of the German government and the opposition parties on the European migrant crisis of 2015–2016, as well as to analyse Germany’s impact on changes in immigration policy, external borders control and asylum policy of the EU that were either implemented or drafted at that time.
The monograph draws from the digital Archive database of intergovernmental conferences held in 1996–1997, 2000, 2003–2004 and 2007, and the 2002–2003 Convention on the Future of Europe, as well as the primary and secondary European Union legislation, particularly legislation of the European Commission, the CEU and the European Parliament (EP). Other valuable sources involve final reports on the meetings of the CEU, political conclusions of the EC and the CEU, communications and other documents of the European Commission, as well as analyses and statistical data derived particularly from Eurostat, Frontex and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Notable German sources include, primarily, minutes of plenary proceedings of the Bundestag and the parliamentary Committee on the Affairs of the European Union, legislative proposals of parliamentary factions and the Bundestag resolutions, judgements of the Bundesverfassungsgericht, resolutions of German political parties adopted by their highest authorities and lower bodies, documents of the Bundesministerium der Finanzen (BMF), the Bundesamt für Migration ←18 | 19→und Flüchtlinge (BAMF) and the Erstverteilung der Asylbegehrenden (EASY), speeches of selected German politicians, as well as materials of the Statistisches Bundesamt. Previous research on Germany’s stance on the system reform of the EU lacks a monograph that would comprehensively analyse this issue using source materials. In this sense, this paper is a response to the above need that fills the existing gap. It is all the more significant due to the fact that it does not solely discuss the treaty reform already codified in the Treaty of Lisbon of 13 December 2007, but also undertakes to analyse the current concern of systemic changes in the eurozone and the mentioned policies that fall within the area of freedom, security and justice of the European Union.←19 | 20→←20 | 21→
Details
- Pages
- 328
- Year
- 2018
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9783631761373
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9783631761380
- ISBN (MOBI)
- 9783631761397
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9783631748565
- DOI
- 10.3726/b14374
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2018 (December)
- Keywords
- Germany European Union Treaty reform Eurozone Immigration policy Asylum policy
- Published
- Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2018. 325 pp., 4 fig. b/w, 9 tables
