A European Germany

Abstract

If there is a single nation on which the future success of the European Union now lies, it is Germany. For in its eagerness to escape its past and create a future that it can be proud of, Germany, the Union’s most powerful member state, is embracing the vision of a united Europe with an enthusiasm unmatched by its Union peers. The Union really never had to worry that the reunified Germany would burst its ties to the West and forgo its Union commitments. Why would Germany forsake the very institutions that have given it peace and prosperity and facilitated its ability to regain the respect of the world? Modern Germany has developed through multilaterals. The Germans have never doubted that it was membership in the Union and NATO that fostered their economic growth, helped them to regain their national pride, and made reunification possible. Integration has been a highly successful two-way process: both the Germans and Germany’s neighbours have come out winners. In this sense, while integration at the end of the Second World War offered the founding Union member states a means to assure their peaceful co-existence with West Germany, the integration process also served West Germany’s vital interests equally well.