Europeanisation of the German Foreign Policy – ‘Germanisation’ of the Common Foreign and Security Policy

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between Germany’s foreign policy and the European Union’s  Common Foreign and Security Policy. Since Germany  is the European Union’s leading power, it could be  assumed that the Common Foreign and Security  Policy has also been ‘Germanised’. However, we  should not forget that the German foreign policy has  a strong European identity as well. To examine this  issue, we apply the Europeanisation theory in cases  like the institutionalisation of the Common Foreign  and Security Policy, negotiating Iran’s nuclear deal  and the Ukraine crisis. We conclude that the German  foreign policy is highly Europeanised, on the other  hand, the Common Foreign and Security Policy is not  ‘Germanised’.