Shaping Europe: France, Germany, and Embedded Bilateralism from the Elysée Treaty to Twenty-First Century Politics

France and Germany have played a pivotal role in the history and politics of European integration. Yet, paradoxically, a study that systematically investigates the interrelated reality of Franco-German bilateralism and multilateral European integration has been conspicuously lacking. Formulating an approach the authors call "embedded bilateralism", this book offers exactly that. It scrutinizes in empirical and historical detail the bilateral Franco-German order and France and Germany's joint role in shaping Europe over the past half century. The book addresses two key questions regarding France and Germany in Europe from the Elysée Treaty to the twenty-first century: Why have France and Germany continued to hang together in an especially tight relationship for over five decades amidst frequently dramatic domestic change, lasting differences, and fundamental international transformation? And why has the joint Franco-German impact on shaping Europe's polity and European policies, while fundamental, proved so uneven across political domains and time? In answer to the first question, Shaping Europe argues that the actions and practices of the Franco-German order-its regularized bilateral intergovernmentalism, symbolic acts and practices, and parapublic underpinnings-together have rendered this bilateral connection historically resilient and politically adaptable. Regarding the second question, the book holds that different combinations of a limited number of factors located at the bilateral, domestic, regional European, and international levels explain central aspects of variation. Together, these factors condition and modulate France and Germany's joint impact on Europe. In pursuing its research questions, theoretical work, historical reconstructions, and empirical analyses, Shaping Europe fruitfully combines the study of European integration, EU politics and policymaking, Franco-German affairs, and French and German politics with general theorizing and conceptual grounding in international relations and political science.

Table of Contents:
Figures and Tables Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: France and Germany in Europe 1: Bilateral Regional Polity and Policy Shaping 2: Regularized Bilateral Intergovernmentalism 3: Carolingian Symbols and Meaning 4: Parapublic Underpinnings of a Bilateral Relationship 5: Polity Shaping I: Building Regional Institutions 6: Polity Shaping II: The Politics of Enlargement 7: Making, Shaping, and Limiting European Markets 8: Monetary Cooperation and Integration 9: Foreign and Security Policy: Occasional Leadership 10: Embedded Bilateralism in Europe Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Ulrich Krotz is Professor at the European University Institute, Chair in International Relations and European Politics, both in the Political Science Department and the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. Joachim Schild is Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Trier.

Review :
`This remarkable book, covering a half century of Franco-German relations and European politics, reminds us that the obstacles faced by the two neighbors at the signing of the Elysée Treaty-and at various junctures since-while different, were no less politically momentous and historically significant than the challenges France and Germany encounter today.' Günther Nonnenmacher, Editor, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung `[A] stimulating study ... this significant work provokes reflection, and marks a valuable step forward in the study of the EU.' Roger Morgan, Times Higher Education `...Should [be] of great interest to scholars of European integration and International Relations... [A]n excellent book, which will become the new standard text for students of Franco-German relations.' Alister Miskimmon, International Affairs `[A] precise and comprehensive panorama of the past half century of Franco-German tandem.' Thomas Raineau, Journal of Common Market Studies `... Ulrich Krotz and Joachim Schild have provided all students of European and international politics with a special gift-a theoretically highly original, empirically rich, and historically informed analysis of Europe's most important relationship. This splendid book invites us to explore embedded bilateralism as a distinctive type of international relations. The rewards are fully commensurate with the political occasion this book marks.' Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University