Suchergebnisse

German European policy has undergone a substantial change since the mid 1990s. It has often been labeled as "normalization," "pragmatization," or even as "de-Europeanization." The article argues that while there has been little change in the program of the Angela Merkel government compared to the former SPD-Green coalition, shifts in the institutional set-up, "Brusselization" of the top ranks of the state administration & improvement in the economic performance of Germany may prove politically significant. So far, the change in the style of the German policy has been the most visible: while pragmatic regulative polices continue, Berlin focuses its constitutive politics more on strategic issues viewing this phase of the EU development as critical. In the run-up to the German EU presidency Berlin's policy has become more EU-partisan focusing on the EU Constitution Treaty in particular, as well as, seeking & offering more leadership in EU affairs than before. Adapted from the source document.

Certain processes of transformation have underpinned the programmatic development of the Slovak communist successor, the Party of the Democratic Left (SDL), most notably policy transfer from Western social-democratic parties. New young, dynamic leaders assumed the role of modernizers in the party in the first half of the 1990s, but a group of more conservative socialists took over in 1996. The two streams developed mutually incompatible attitudes not just to policy transfer, but to policy development in general. In the process of transformation, fast-track programmatic modernization & the internal divisions within the party were directly influenced by policy transfer from Western social-democratic parties & had a clear effect on the party's eventual implosion. Adapted from the source document.

This article traces the development of two post-communist parties -- the Czech KSCM & the German PDS -- illustrating how they may continue to shape hard left policy in an expanded European Union (EU). It analyses three policy areas in detail (security & defense policy, employment policy & policies towards the institutional reform of the EU) & argues that, providing the parties avoid internal ideological conflict, they may come to play significant roles in influencing hard left policy in future years. The PDS is likely to act as a bridge for other hard left groups with more conservative agendas while the much larger KSCM may attempt to shift the ideological balance back towards more structurally conservative anti-capitalist policies. 78 References. [Copyright 2004 The Regents of the University of California; published by Elsevier Ltd.]

The article looks first into the nature of the relations between Germany and the CEE countries a decade since the accession of the CEE countries to the EU. The relations are characterized as normalised and intensive with diverse levels of closeness and cooperation reflecting of the conceptual and ideological compatibility/differences.
Next, the article focuses on the German attitude to the euro zone crisis. Germany has become a hegemon in the rescue effort aimed at stabilisation and economic invigoration of the euro zone. However, German hegemony has developed by default, not by design: her leading position is linked with considerable political and financial costs. Germany moved central stage and took the position of a reluctant hegemon. However, German role is contested internationally (it has not the support of the French government in key areas) as well as internally (particularly by the Federal Constitutional Court and the Bundesbank).
The article argues that the new situation makes the German–CEE relations increasingly relevant for both sides. The German leadership of the EU increasing split along the north–south divide requires backing by the Northern group countries to which the CEE in general belongs. Given a number of reasons the CEE countries implement three distinctive strategies of co-operation with Germany in European politics. Also military co-operation, which remained rather limited so far, may receive new impulses, given the financial austerity.