Does Germany still see Europe through the Franco-German Prism?

Abstract

Since the start of the crisis which we have become accustomed to calling the Greek Crisis, it has become clear that France and Germany, France with Germany, have a heavy responsibility to bear. Without agreement between the two governments progress cannot be made. To a certain degree this confirms an important truth about the European integration process. However, at the same time the attentive citizen could see that the Franco-German agreement was achieved under great duress and extreme external pressure that was stronger than during any other previous crisis. We also noted some new factors in terms of the behaviour and position adopted, both by the German government and parliament.