Messages in the Media - University of Toronto

were opposed to the ECB´s plan to create Eurobonds in order
to raise the funds necessary to assist Greece and other
Member States’ failing economies; Germans were unwilling
to support the creation of Eurobonds as there was an explicit
fear that it would damage their own country’s interest
rates. There was a clear division between Merkel and European
Commission President Barroso on the topic of Eurobonds.
60 Despite this division, Merkel’s plan for the
Member States to have greater financial accountability was
well received and she was praised as a leader in this respect.
The other two trends that have been identified offer
a different perspective on Germany’s role in the EU. In
terms of pan-European security and foreign policy the
German state is fairly limited in its abilities. Both socially
and constitutionally, engaging in military interventions is
negatively received by the majority of the domestic populace.
The general consensus among the German population
is that Germany should not partake in a European military
intervention, which was discussed several times in the
wake of the Arab spring. Later on in the year the number of
refugees coming from North Africa brought the question of
EU internal border policy into light. This resulted in some
countries, specifically Denmark imposing border controls
again, despite being in the Schengen agreement. Germany
took this as a serious threat to the internal and free movement
of people in the EU and sided with the Commission on
this regard.
Another topic that is continually discussed is Germany’s
environmental role in Europe. Germany has consistently
been a leader in environmental awareness and this is
once again reflected in its stance on a European climate
initiative. Internally however, there is great divide regarding
the reduction of CO2 emissions and nuclear power.
Within the EU context, Germany has been actively engaged
on environmental topics, but internally it has struggled
with managing the industries that pollute. Furthermore, a
proposed tax increase on diesel fuel sparked outrage in
Germany, as it is a huge consumer of diesel fuel for person-
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