France's adversary, Germany's "bad cop"?

The formation of the "New Hanseatic League" in the recent reform discussions of the Eurozone

Authors

  • Simon Guntrum

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32387/prokla.v49i194.1773

Keywords:

Eurozone, EU, European Union, Hanseatic League, European Integration, Germany, France

Abstract

The article deals with the role of the newly formed "Hanseatic League" - an association of eight north (east) European EU states - and its positioning within the current reform debates of the Economic and Monetary Union. It is argued that a focus on Franco-German relations obscures the view of an expanded field of intergovernmental power relations in which the other member states group themselves around these two blocs, France and Germany, but also form their own coalitions and set their own accents. The article provides an initial stocktaking and shows the dynamics to which the formation of the Hansa can be attributed, what position it occupies in the reform debates and whether the Hansa is merely the extended arm of the German “Stability Union” or an independent opponent of French reform efforts.

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Published

2019-03-25

How to Cite

Guntrum, S. (2019). France’s adversary, Germany’s "bad cop"? The formation of the "New Hanseatic League" in the recent reform discussions of the Eurozone. PROKLA. Journal of Critical Social Science, 49(194), 163–170. https://doi.org/10.32387/prokla.v49i194.1773

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