No more saints and sinners : tracing German preference formation in the EU's response to the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

To the surprise of many, the German government in the corona crisis eventually pushed for a debt-financed EU recovery fund for the fight against the pandemic. How can we explain this impetus, especially in view of the reticent German fiscal stance in previous years and in the early stages of the pandemic? In order to trace, and explain, German preferences, this paper revisits and combines different EU theories. It shows three things: national preference formation and EU-level deliberations happened simultaneously, rather than successively, and they reinforced each other; a domestic constraining dissensus did not materialize, despite the government’s European commitments; and powerful domestic interests aligned with, rather than shaped, governmental positions. Whether German action during the corona crisis will represent a long-term change in its EU and fiscal stances largely depends on the successful implementation of the recovery fund.