Torn between Two Lovers: German Policy on Economic and Monetary Union, the New Hanseatic League and Franco-German Bilateralism

Figures & data

Table 1. German chancellor consultations with heads of government and state on EMU issues (2010–2018).

	FR	NL	IE	DK	SE	FI	LT	LV	EE
2010	6	2	0	0	1	1	1	1	1
2011	10	1	2	1	0	1	0	0	1
2012	7	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
2013	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
2014	2	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	1
2015	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
2016	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
2017	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2018	4	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
2019	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sum	37	9	5	2	2	5	3	2	4

Source: own compilation.

The data was drawn from the news section of Chancellor Merkel’s (https://www.bundeskanzlerin.de/bkin-de/aktuelles) and of the Federal Government’s website (https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/aktuelles#/). Three selection criteria have been used. Firstly, the set time period ran from 2010 until the end of 2019. Secondly, only bilateral meetings/consultations have been included whereas trilateral meetings and official meetings on EU level such as Euro group or Council meetings have been excluded. Thirdly, the decision on whether to include a meeting or telephone call was based on the issues covered which were reported by attached press releases, press conferences and declarations. Meetings and telephone calls relating to EMU, to the Eurozone crisis, the crisis management or to any kind of preventive measures have been included. By contrast, meetings on issues of the common market or on broader European policy issues among which EMU issues are not necessarily to find have been excluded.

Table 2. German initiatives and position papers on EMU reforms since 2010 with France and New Hanseatic League governments (2010-2018).

Year	Common papers, proposals, declarations
2010	Joint letter of Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy to the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, 6 May 2010 (1) Position paper on the governance of the euro area, issued at the occasion of the Franco-German Economic and Financial Council of 21 July 2010 (2) Declaration ‘Renforçons le gouvernement économique européen’ at the occasion of the informal bilateral summit at Deauville, 18 October 2010 (3)
2011	Joint letter from Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the Republic, and Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, to Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, 17 August 2011 (4)
2011	Joint Statement of the Ministers of Finance of Finland, the Netherlands and Germany, 25 November 2011 (5)
2012	Joint Statement of the Ministers of Finance of Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, 25 September 2012 (6)
2013	Position paper ‘France and Germany – Together for a Stronger Europe of Stability and Growth’, 30 May 2013 (7)
2015	Franco-German Contribution to the Strengthening of the EMU (8)
2018	Franco-German Meseberg Declaration, 19 June 2018 (9) Joint Proposal on the architecture of a Eurozone budget within the framework of the European Union, 16 November 2018 (10)
2019	Franco-German non-paper ‘Eurozone Budgetary Instrument – possible ways forward after the December 2018 Summit’, 21 February 2019 (11)
2020	A French German Initiative for a Recovery Fund from the Coronavirus Crisis, Berlin/Paris, 18 May 2020 (12)

Sources: (1) https://archiv.bundesregierung.de/archiv-de/joint-letter-of-chancellor-angela-merkel-and-president-nicolas-sarkozy-to-the-presidents-of-the-european-council-and-the-european-commission-350710. (2) http://www.astrid-online.it/static/upload/protected/Gouv/Gouvernment-economique-europ_papier-franco-allemand_21_07_10.pdf. (3) www.france-allemagne.fr/Renforcons-le-gouvernement,5764.html. (4) https://uk.ambafrance.org/French-and-German-leaders-defend. (5) https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/EN/Pressemitteilungen/2011/2011-11-25-Joint-Statement.html. (6) https://vm.fi/en/article/-/asset_publisher/joint-statement-of-the-ministers-of-finance-of-germany-the-netherlands-and-finland. (7) https://archiv.bundesregierung.de/resource/%20blob/656922/605420/02e43343a1528ea03230aee17f0715a1/2013-05-30-dt-frz-erklaerung-englisch-data.pdf. (8) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/french-german_contribution_1_de.pdf. (9) https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/germany/events/article/europe-franco-german-declaration-19-06-18. (10) https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/37011/proposal-on-the-architecture-of-a-eurozone-budget.pdf. (11) https://www.euractiv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/French-German-Contribution-on-a-Eurozone-Budgetary-Instrument-2.pdf. (12) https://www.bundesregierung.de/resource/blob/975226/1753772/414a4b5a1ca91d4f7146eeb2b39ee72b/2020-05-18-deutsch-franzoesischer-erklaerung-eng-data.pdf?download=1