ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Europeanization processes in Germany from 1982 to 2012. In this historical period, the discourses, policies, strategies, and political actors crystallizing around Europeanization in Germany are analyzed. The findings show that there were four hegemonic problematizations of Europe. First, there was one primarily promoted by the SPD, which constructed Europe in opposition to an “internal evil” and the danger of nationalism. The second, mobilized mainly by the CDU/CSU, represented Europe as a political entity linked to security, borders control, the regulation of immigration, and criminality control. The third problematization emerged strongly in the late 1990s and during the debates on the Amsterdam Treaty; it linked Europe with the challenges of globalization and the ability to compete in an increasingly globalized and complex world. Finally, during the euro crisis, the EU was represented as a vehicle to discipline various member states, especially Greece. The main German opposition to the processes of European integration came from the PDS/Die Linke group, but there was also skepticism within the CDU/CSU in relation to the role of the nation-state within the EU.
