Germany's Response Research Articles

Beyond Formal Structures: Exploring Bottom-Up Governance Dynamics in the Assyrian Community’s COVID-19 Response in Germany

This article examines pandemic governance towards migrant communities in Germany in the context of mobilisation and demobilisation of state–society relations during the COVID-19 crisis. By studying how informality is reproduced in social practices and community networks as a response to top-down governance practices in the case of Assyrians – a quintessential diaspora community that settled in Germany through various migratory waves starting from the 1960s – this article aims to explore the bottom-up dynamics of governance practices among migrant communities. The study identifies three key themes for studying bottom-up dynamics of governance: informality embedded in everyday practices in response to formal governance, particularly vaccine policies; the existence of alternative epistemologies based on mistrust towards authorities, manifested in dual narratives; and the articulation of migrant agency in navigating top-down structures. Adopting a grounded theory approach, the study utilises theoretical sampling. Data were collected from various sources, including reports, newspaper articles, official statements and press releases from migrant organisations, alongside interviews with key migrant stakeholders.

Germany's Response towards Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The Russia-Ukraine war has had a profound impact on energy security in Europe, with Germany facing unique challenges and opportunities as one of the largest energy consumers in the region. This case study examines the implications of the conflict on energy security, focusing on Germany's response. It analyzes the reasons behind Germany's support for the project, such as diversification of energy sources, economic interests, and political influence. It also delves into the concerns raised by the European Union and the United States regarding the project's impact on energy diversification, geopolitical dynamics, and the interests of Eastern European countries. The findings contribute to the understanding of energy security dynamics and offer valuable insights for policymakers, energy experts, and stakeholders involved in shaping resilient and sustainable energy systems amidst geopolitical uncertainties.

우크라이나-러시아 전쟁으로 인한 에너지위기와 독일의 대응

The Ukrainian-Russian War caused an energy crisis in Germany. Germany imports large amounts of natural gas from Russia. Germany's dependence on Russia for natural gas supply has been a long-standing situation. For Germany, this situation was not a big problem before the Ukrainian-Russian War. However, after the Ukrainian-Russian War, the Western Bloc imposed economic sanctions against Russia. And in response, Russia also started sanctions against the Western Bloc. Russia used natural gas as a weapon to pressure Germany, but this was not limited to simply reducing or banning exports. Russia intended to liquidate Gazprom Germania GmbH, a German company belonging to the Gazprom Group. If this company went liquidated, Germany's natural gas supply and demand would be seriously disrupted, so Germany implemented trust management as an administrative measure to prevent liquidation of this company. The purpose of this paper is to review Germany's response to the energy crisis caused by the Ukraine-Russia war by examining specific cases and individual legal systems of Germany's trust management system.

The Cold War and Return Migration: The West German Response to Yugoslavia's Efforts to Influence its Workers Abroad

Every state that signed a labour-recruitment agreement with West Germany attempted to exert influence over their citizens who lived in West Germany. But because most of the states with which West Germany signed agreements – with the exception of Italy – were ruled, at least for a time, by dictators or military juntas, the efforts by sending states to influence their citizens abroad at times proved problematic for the democratic and liberalizing West German state. This article examines West Germany's response to Yugoslavia's efforts to ‘govern the seventh republic’, that is, to exert a profound influence upon its citizens in West Germany. It focuses on the establishment, operation, and West German response to Yugo Clubs, institutions with which Yugoslav officials sought to bind their citizens more tightly to the Yugoslav state. This history represents, in some ways, a distinctive case, because Yugoslavia was the only communist state with which West Germany signed a labour-recruitment agreement. Shifts in the Cold War context, and especially the rise of détente and Willy Brandt's new Ostpolitik during the late 1960s, are thus critical to understanding West Germany's response to Yugoslavia's efforts to influence its citizens abroad. During the 1960s, West German officials, fearing a communist infiltration, resisted Yugoslavia's efforts to assert influence over Yugoslav labour migrants. But with the emergence of détente in the late 1960s and into the 1970s, West German officials supported Yugoslavia's attempts to influence Yugoslav guest workers, even when some troubling aspects of these efforts came to light. Finally, some German officials supported the clubs because they believed they would keep Yugoslav guest workers closely linked to their homeland, thereby increasing the likelihood that they would eventually return home. This belief, in turn, supported the West German fiction that it was not a land of immigration.

Small firms and the COVID-19 insolvency gap

COVID-19 placed a special role on fiscal policy in rescuing companies short of liquidity from insolvency. In the first months of the crisis, SMEs as the backbone of Germany’s economy benefited from large and mainly indiscriminate aid measures. Avoiding business failures in a whatever-it-takes fashion contrasts, however, with the cleansing mechanism of economic crises: a mechanism which forces unviable firms out of the market, thereby reallocating resources efficiently. By focusing on firms’ pre-crisis financial standing, we estimate the extent to which the policy response induced an insolvency gap and analyze whether the gap is characterized by firms which were already struggling before the pandemic. With the policy measures being focused on smaller firms, we also examine whether this insolvency gap differs with respect to firm size. Our results show that the COVID-19 policy response in Germany has triggered a backlog of insolvencies that is particularly pronounced among financially weak, small firms, having potential long-term implications on entrepreneurship and economic recovery.Plain English Summary This study analyzes the extent to which the strong policy support to companies in the early phase of the COVID-19 crisis has prevented a large wave of corporate insolvencies. Using data of about 1.5 million German companies, it is shown that it was mainly smaller firms that experienced strong financial distress and would have gone bankrupt without policy assistance. In times of crises, insolvencies usually allow for a reallocation of employees and capital to more efficient firms. However, the analysis reveals that this ‘cleansing effect’ is hampered in the current crisis as the largely indiscriminate granting of liquidity subsidies and the temporary suspension of the duty to file for insolvency have caused an insolvency gap that is driven by firms which were already in a weak financial position before the crisis. Overall, the insolvency gap is estimated to affect around 25,000 companies, a substantial number compared to the around 16,300 actual insolvencies in 2020. In the ongoing crisis, policy makers should prefer instruments favoring entrepreneurs who respond innovatively to the pandemic instead of prolonging the survival of near-insolvent firms.

Tracing divergence in crisis governance: responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, Germany and Sweden compared

This cross-country comparison of administrative responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, Germany and Sweden is aimed at exploring how institutional contexts and administrative cultures have shaped strategies of problem-solving and governance modes during the pandemic, and to what extent the crisis has been used for opportunity management. The article shows that in France, the central government reacted determinedly and hierarchically, with tough containment measures. By contrast, the response in Germany was characterized by an initial bottom-up approach that gave way to remarkable federal unity in the further course of the crisis, followed again by a return to regional variance and local discretion. In Sweden, there was a continuation of ‘normal governance’ and a strategy of relying on voluntary compliance largely based on recommendations and less – as in Germany and France – on a strategy of imposing legally binding regulations. The comparative analysis also reveals that relevant stakeholders in all three countries have used the crisis as an opportunity for changes in the institutional settings and administrative procedures.Points for practitionersCOVID-19 has shown that national political and administrative standard operating procedures in preparation for crises are, at best, partially helpful. Notwithstanding the fact that dealing with the unpredictable is a necessary part of crisis management, a need to further improve the institutional preparedness for pandemic crises in all three countries examined here has also become clear. This should be done particularly by way of shifting resources to the health and care sectors, strengthening the decentralized management of health emergencies, stocking and/or self-producing protection material, assessing the effects of crisis measures, and opening the scientific discourse to broader arenas of experts.

Transition towards sustainable pharmacy? The influence of public debates on policy responses to pharmaceutical contaminants in water

BackgroundDespite clear-cut scientific evidence for pharmaceutical contaminants causing adverse effects in aquatic life, the regulatory response in Germany has been weak. In principle, there are different policy approaches to address pharmaceutical contaminants: German water protection policies mostly follows a control approach, complemented by end-of-pipe solutions in some German states. The approach leaves the activities of key target groups, such as the pharmaceutical industry, largely unaffected. A stakeholder consultation initiated in 2016 by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment did not lead to significant changes in regulation. Empirical research in political science has shown that analysing the public debate can be helpful in explaining policy responses and, in particular, policy change. This study follows this approach and investigates whether the German policy response to pharmaceutical contaminants can be explained by characteristics of the public debate on the issue.ResultsA discourse network analysis based on newspaper reporting in Germany was conducted between 2013 and 2017 to investigate the public debate on pharmaceutical contaminants. German newspapers actually paid considerable attention to the issue. In fact, the debate was not controversial, and participating organisations expressed similar views with regard to the risk of the contaminants, the causes of contamination and the approaches to be taken to mitigate the release of contaminants to the environment. The main narrative in the debate was supportive to the current policy approach applied in Germany. There were no concerted efforts by organisations such as environmental organisations or ecological parties to mobilise for an alternative policy approach.ConclusionsThe low level of polarisation in the policy subsystem and the absence of a strong narrative mobilising a major policy change may explain the persistence of the policy approach to pharmaceutical contaminants applied in Germany. A significant change to the current approach in the near future seems unlikely. Nevertheless, literature in political science shows that a polarised public debate and a strong pro-change actor coalition often preceded policy change. Actors with an interest in stricter regulation might want to reconsider their mobilisation strategies.

Health services for asylum-seekers: evidence from countries of arrival, transit and destination

Abstract Background Systematic assessments of health services for asylum seekers are relevant to identify strengths and weaknesses of responses to migration movements. Building on recent research, the presentation maps and summarises health service responses in Germany and six countries of the European Union and derives lessons learnt. Methods The presentation builds upon three pieces of evidence: 1. A health system assessment of Germany's response to refugee movements in 2015 using data from a national survey among public health services. 2. A scoping study of six EU countries in which 27 semi-structured in-depth interviews with first-line staff and health officials to collect information about existing guidelines and practices at each stage of reception in first-entry (Greece/Italy), transit (Croatia/Slovenia), and destination countries (Austria/Sweden). 3. A study assessing mental health care services in Germany from initial registration to follow-up after transfer in districts. Results The studies highlight system related shortcomings related to coordination of care, lack of standardisation, fragmentation of services and financing structures, inter- and sub-national governance structures, as well as limitations in communication and data collection systems that translate into poor health services, duplication of efforts, and discontinuity of care during the migration trajectory. Conclusions While the studies assessed the situation between 2015 and 2018, structural approaches, innovations and system level reforms will be needed to improve health system responses in the future. Such reforms, however, appear to be absent from the policy discourse so that increased efforts from the public health community are required to strengthen and improve health services for asylum seekers.

Lessons from the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: Will virtual patient management reshape uro-oncology in Germany?

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is challenging for physicians treating patients with genitourinary cancers as they are considered at high risk of severe events. The uro-oncology outpatient clinic at our academic institution was affected early by the outbreak owing to the widespread infection of healthcare personnel. Subsequently, we developed a strategy to ensure the patient's safety by efforts focused on strict quarantine observation, reduction of clinic visits and implementation of virtual patient management into the workflow. Furthermore, we analysed susceptibility to COVID-19 and its effects on patients with uro-oncological cancer treated with antitumoural agents. The goal is to warrant high-quality cancer care, despite being an academic centre on the front line of Germany's response to COVID-19.

The Appeal of Civil Disobedience in the Central Mediterranean

The European responses to irregularised migrants in the second decade of the twenty-first century have been qualitatively new not so much because of the often-celebrated cultures of hospitality in countries such as Germany and Sweden, but because of acts of solidarity that have challenged the prerogative of nation-states to control access to their territory. I discuss elements of the public response in Germany to the criminalisation of one such act, the search and rescue (SAR) operation of the Sea-Watch 3 in the Central Mediterranean in June 2019, which led to the arrest of the ship’s captain, Carola Rackete, by Italian authorities. I argue that while the response to Rackete’s arrest was unprecedented, it built upon a year-long campaign in support of private SAR missions in the Mediterranean, which drew on the discourse of rights and was therefore not reliant on a short-term outpouring of compassion. Rackete’s supporters have also been energised by alternative visions of Europe, and by the vitriol reserved for her by followers of the populist far right.

Ontological Security, Civilian Power, and German Foreign Policy Toward Russia1

AbstractThe article analyzes Germany's policies toward Russia from an ontological security perspective. We argue that foreign policy should be seen as a tool that allows states to maintain a sense of a reasonably stable self, which enables them to cope in the changing world. We develop a three-layered model conceptualizing ontological security through narratives about the self, a significant other, and the international system and show its particular relevance for explicating policy change. When threatened by a crisis, states respond by narrative adjustment that highlights continuity on some levels, while enabling change on other levels. Developing the argument that Germany's ontological security is based in the “civilian power” narrative, we use our model to reconstruct Germany's response to Russia's wars in Georgia and Ukraine. In both cases, the discourse highlighted the ongoing validity of civilian power on the level of the international order, while challenges were accommodated by adjustments on the level of the self and the significant other. Ontological security was restored vis-à-vis the changing world by reinforcing the civilian power as a norm, while shifting blame to either both Germany and Russia (2008), or Russia exclusively (2014), for not adhering to it at a given time.

Exploring Controls on Rainfall‐Runoff Events: 1. Time Series‐Based Event Separation and Temporal Dynamics of Event Runoff Response in Germany

AbstractAnalyzing a response of catchments to rainfall inputs allows for deeper insights on the mechanisms of runoff generation at catchment scale. In this study an automated time series‐based event separation procedure consisting of available base flow separation, runoff event identification, and rainfall attribution methods and of a novel iterative procedure for the adjustment of thresholds used to identify single‐peak components of multiple‐peak events is proposed. Event runoff coefficient, time scale, rise time, and peak discharge of more than 220,000 identified rainfall‐runoff events are then used to analyze dynamics of event runoff response in 185 catchments at multiple temporal scales. In mountainous catchments with poor storage event runoff response is strongly controlled by the characteristics of rainfall and is generated by event‐fed saturation or infiltration excess. A distinct switch between saturated and unsaturated states occurs in these catchments. A weak relation between rainfall and runoff event properties is instead observed in lowland and hilly catchments with substantial storage, where a gradual transformation between functioning states occurs and the response is driven by preevent saturation. The seasonality of their event characteristics is governed by the contribution of snowmelt and the seasonality of the aridity index rather than of rainfall properties. Long‐term changes of total precipitation amount alone do not explain season‐specific long‐term changes of event characteristics that are rather consistent with changes of seasonal indicators of the wetness state. The effects of land use changes are detectable only in a few cases and display themselves mostly in the characteristic response time of catchments.

The Salisbury Poisoning Case and German–Russian Relations: Ambiguity and Ambivalence

AbstractGovernments of Western democracies responded quickly to the poisoning—allegedly by agents of the Russian state—of former Soviet spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter in Salisbury, UK in March 2018. Germany's response was not as categorically reproachful and drew attention to its relationship with Vladimir Putin's Russia more generally. It expelled four Russian diplomats and has applied sanctions since Russia's annexation of Crimea, yet continues with other bilateral trade and investment, significantly in the energy sector, and it has been hesitant about unconditionally rebuking aggressive Russian behaviour. A complex mix of domestic politics and international relations, historical memory, economic incentives, and political psychology in the age of the internet and ‘fake news’ serve to influence German attitudes toward Russia. A contest between Putin critics and sympathisers sharpens in a polity in which the majority are ambivalent. In the aftermath of the Skripal affair, some rethinking of an ambiguous policy is occurring at high levels.

Kowtowing before the Kaiser? Sino-German Relations in the Aftermath of the Boxer Uprising

ABSTRACTWhile most discussions of Germany's response to the Boxer Rebellion have focused on the Kaiser's infamous ‘Hun Speech’, few have scrutinised the attitude of the Kaiser and the institutions of the German state towards the Chinese after the war. This article demonstrates that Sino-German relations after the Boxer War were mishandled by Berlin, particularly the Kaiser. Despite having insisted on a public apology from the Chinese emperor for the Boxers' anti-European violence, the subsequent Chinese royal mission to Berlin saw the Germans lectured by the visiting Chinese on appropriate standards of civilised conduct before being offered a non-apology. Despite these very public snubs, the Chinese delegation were feted all over Germany and awarded imperial honours before returning home, having comprehensively won the peace. By looking more closely at the dynamics of this so-called ‘Atonement Mission’, this paper highlights how the Chinese Empire transformed a publicly staged act of abasement into an assertion of Chinese dignity and defiance that embarrassed the Kaiser in the eyes of Europe.

New insights into flood warning reception and emergency response by affected parties

Abstract. Flood damage can be mitigated if the parties at risk are reached by flood warnings and if they know how to react appropriately. To gain more knowledge about warning reception and emergency response of private households and companies, surveys were undertaken after the August 2002 and the June 2013 floods in Germany. Despite pronounced regional differences, the results show a clear overall picture: in 2002, early warnings did not work well; e.g. many households (27 %) and companies (45 %) stated that they had not received any flood warnings. Additionally, the preparedness of private households and companies was low in 2002, mainly due to a lack of flood experience. After the 2002 flood, many initiatives were launched and investments undertaken to improve flood risk management, including early warnings and an emergency response in Germany. In 2013, only a small share of the affected households (5 %) and companies (3 %) were not reached by any warnings. Additionally, private households and companies were better prepared. For instance, the share of companies which have an emergency plan in place has increased from 10 % in 2002 to 34 % in 2013. However, there is still room for improvement, which needs to be triggered mainly by effective risk and emergency communication. The challenge is to continuously maintain and advance an integrated early warning and emergency response system even without the occurrence of extreme floods.

Public Choice barriers to efficient climate adaptation – theoretical insights and lessons learned from German flood disasters

AbstractIn this paper, we take a Public Choice perspective to identify and categorise barriers to efficient public climate adaptation. Specifically, we distinguish three dimensions of public adaptation: extent, structure (form and timing) and organisation (coordination across territorial authorities and policy fields). Within each of these dimensions, we investigate how the self-interest of voters, pressure groups, bureaucrats and politicians may bias adaptation decisions. Thus, we indicate specific barriers to efficient public adaptation. Based on this framework, we illustrate how Germany's response to major flood disasters reflects the incentive structure of concerned stakeholders and their political interaction. The ad hoc character of some public adaptation measures implies a clear bias from the efficient benchmark. In conclusion, we argue that the propositions of Public Choice theory shed some light on how empirical public adaptation processes unfold.

Energy Security and Germany's Response to Russian Revisionism: The Dangers of Civilian Power

This article examines the impact of German dependence on Russian gas supplies for Europe's ability to apply effective sanctions against Russia. It demonstrates that by focusing on the environmental dimensions of energy policy and a policy of rapprochement with Russia, Germany has neglected the security of supply implications of its dependence on Russian gas. The article argues that Germany's excessive energy dependence on Russia has limited the ability of the EU to challenge Russian revisionism by targeting its energy sector through sanctions. The article makes a number of energy policy recommendations which will be essential for Germany to avoid undue Russian influence on its foreign and security policies. The article concludes by exploring the utility of Neoclassical Realism in understanding Germany's approach to energy security. In doing so it highlights the dangers of allowing ideology to cloud a sober assessment of the imperatives of the balance of theat.

Economic potential for future demand response in Germany – Modeling approach and case study

The activation of demand response (DR) potentials offered by electricity consumer flexibility is one promising option for providing balancing power and energy in supply systems with high share of variable renewable energy (VRE) power generation. In this paper, a model-based assessment of the economic DR potential in Germany is presented. It relies on the extension of the REMix energy system model by flexible electric loads. In a case study considering a future German power supply system with a VRE share of 70%, possible cost reductions achieved by investment in DR are quantified. The sensitivity of the results to changes in the assumed DR costs and characteristics are analyzed in additional simulations. The results show that the major benefit of employing DR is its ability to substitute peak power generation capacity, whereas the impact on the integration of VRE power generation is lower. This implies that the focus of DR is on the provision of power, not energy. Even at rather pessimistic cost DR assumptions, more than 5GW of power plant capacity can be substituted. Consumer flexibility furthermore triggers an increase in the operation of back-up power plants, whereas it decreases the utilization of pumped storage hydro stations. In the model results, the reductions in annual power supply costs achieved by DR add up to several hundreds of millions of Euros.

How Have Global Shocks Impacted the Real Effective Exchange Rates of Individual Euro Area Countries Since the Euro's Creation?

This paper uncovers the response pattern to global shocks of euro area countries' real effective exchange rates before and after the start of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), a largely open ended question when the euro was created. We apply to that end a newly developed methodology based on high dimensional VAR theory. This approach features a dominant unit to a large set of over 60 countries' real effective exchange rates and is based on the comparison of two estimated systems: one before and one after EMU. We find strong evidence that the pattern of responses depends crucially on the nature of global shocks. In particular, post-EMU responses to global US dollar shocks have become similar to Germany's response before EMU, i.e. to that of the economy that used to issue Europe's most credible legacy currency. By contrast, post-EMU responses of euro area countries to global risk aversion shocks have become similar to those of Italy, Portugal or Spain before EMU, i.e. of economies of the euro area's periphery. Our findings also suggest that the divergence in external competitiveness among euro area countries over the last decade, which is at the core of today's debate on the future of the euro area, is more likely due to country-specific shocks than to global shocks.

‘Ideal and Ornamental Endeavours’: The Armenian Reforms and Germany's Response to Britain's Imperial Humanitarianism in the Ottoman Empire, 1878–83

Diplomatic correspondence during the period 1878–83 offers a unique insight into the tension between humanitarian and geostrategic considerations in German and British foreign policy in the aftermath of the Congress of Berlin. During this period, Germany followed the lead of Britain in adhering to an Eastern policy that favoured the introduction of reforms in the Ottoman Empire that would alleviate the position of the Armenian minority. The more strident Gladstonian stance towards the Ottoman Empire initiated in the early 1880s, however, led to the perception that the intransigence of British liberals on the Armenian issue was in fact a means by which Britain sought to recalibrate its position in Anatolia, even at the expense of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the concomitant threat of a general European war.