Crisis Comparison: The Relevance of European Solidarity During the Euro Crisis Versus the Migration Crisis in France and Germany

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter compares the relevance of European solidarity in the debates during the euro crisis and the migration crisis within each country (France and Germany) to understand why the reference to European solidarity is stronger in the debates during the migration crisis. After presenting the share of European arguments based on European solidarity, the debates are compared with each other and different theoretical expectations for the relevance of European solidarity are critically examined. The chapter illustrates that, for both countries, only the precision of the policies discussed explains the differences in the relevance of European solidarity between the two crisis debates in both countries. Since a focused discussion about the details of the legislative proposals could not take place during the migration crisis—which during the euro crisis often led to the recourse to economic justification—the way was paved for a broader framing in which the frequent reference to European responsibility increased the share of justifications falling under the category of European solidarity.