Leadership in European crisis politics: France, Germany, and the difficult quest for regional stabilization and integration

ABSTRACT

Over the past decade, the European Union (EU) has faced a number of severe crises threatening its core policy regimes and the future of its polity. Potentially existential crises, such as the Eurozone, migration, and Covid-19 crises, require political leaders who are able and willing to give orientation and provide stability. This article argues that France and Germany, as the Union's two largest member states, have been key for EU stabilization and (further) integration, especially in times of crisis. Thanks to their ‘embedded bilateralism', France and Germany have available important resources that other member states and the EU's supranational institutions are lacking. Yet, the emergence of Franco-German leadership and its impact on EU stabilization and integration depend on the demand for leadership, reflecting the status quo costs across the EU and the supply of leadership as the result of relevant Franco-German capacities. Demand and supply factors explain the varying record of Franco-German leadership and stabilization in the three EU crises under consideration. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.