National Comparison I: The Relevance of European Solidarity in the French Versus the German Debate During the Euro Crisis

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter compares the relevance of European solidarity in the French and German debates on redistributive policies during the euro crisis. After presenting the share of arguments based on European solidarity in the debates, the national debates are compared with each other and different theoretical expectations for the relevance of European solidarity are critically examined. The chapter shows that only national political culture can convincingly explain the observed differences in the relevance of European solidarity in the debates of both countries during the euro crisis. Solidarity-based policies are a common feature in the French system and references to the need to show solidarity are largely accepted in the French debate. In Germany, policies based on solidarity are viewed with more scepticism, especially on the European level. This general attitude is reflected in the German discourse: European solidarity does “not fly” very well in the German debate, and critics of the discussed policies use the derogatory term Transferunion to warn against too much redistribution at the European level.