New Perspectives in German Studies General Editors: Professor Michael Butler, Head of the Department of German Studies, University of Birmingham and Professor William Paterson, Director of the Institute of German Studies, University of Birmingham Over the last twenty years the concept of German studies has undergone major transformation. The traditional mixture of language and literary studies, related very closely to the discipline as practised in German universities, has expanded to embrace history, politics, economics and cultural studies. The conventional boundaries between all these disciplines have become increasingly blurred, a process which has been accelerated markedly since German unification in 1989/90. New Perspectives in German Studies, developed in conjunction with the Institute for German Studies at the University of Birmingham, has been designed to respond precisely to this trend of the interdisciplinary approach to the study of German and to cater to the growing interest in Germany in the context of European integration. The books in this series will focus on the modern period, from 1750 to the present day. Titles include: Peter Bleses and Martin Seeleib-Kaiser THE DUAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE GERMAN WELFARE STATE Michael Butler and Robert Evans (editors) THE CHALLENGE OF GERMAN CULTURE Essays Presented to Wilfried van der Will Michael Butler, Malcolm Pender and Joy Charnley (editors) THE MAKING OF MODERN SWITZERLAND 1848 1998 Paul Cooke and Andrew Plowman (editors) GERMAN WRITERS AND THE POLITICS OF CULTURE Dealing with the Stasi Wolf-Dieter Eberwein and Karl Kaiser (editors) GERMANY S NEW FOREIGN POLICY Decision-Making in an Interdependent World Jonathan Grix THE ROLE OF THE MASSES IN THE COLLAPSE OF THE GDR Margarete Kohlenbach WALTER BENJAMIN Self-Reference and Religiosity James Sloam THE EUROPEAN POLICY OF THE GERMAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATS Interpreting a Changing World
Henning Tewes GERMANY, CIVILIAN POWER AND THE NEW EUROPE Enlarging Nato and European Union Maiken Umbach GERMAN FEDERALISM Past, Present, Future New Perspectives in German Studies Series Standing Order ISBN 0 333 92430 4 hardcover Series Standing Order ISBN 0 333 92434 7 paperback (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
The European Policy of the German Social Democrats Interpreting a Changing World James Sloam Lecturer, German Department, King s College, London
James Sloam 2005 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2005 978-1-4039-3581-6 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2005 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-51821-0 ISBN 978-0-230-50546-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230505469 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sloam, James. The European policy of the German Social Democrats : interpreting a changing world / James Sloam. p. cm. (New perspectives in German studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-349-51821-0 1. Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands Platforms. 2. European Union Germany. 3. Political planning European Union countries. 4. Germany History Unification, 1990. I. Title. II. New perspectives in German studies (Palgrave Macmillan (Firm)) JN3971.A98S62453 2004 341.242 2 dc22 2004052592 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
To Debra, for her love and support
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Contents List of Tables and Figures Acknowledgements x xi Introduction 1 Background of change 3 Interpreting a changing world 5 Part I European Policy in a Changing World 11 1 Grounding European Policy: Policy, Power and Parties 13 European policy in Germany and the SPD 14 German policy in Europe 18 The changing role of political parties 24 SPD European policy in the twenty-first century: pragmatic multilateralism 29 2 A New Policy Environment 32 Germany unification 33 The German Mittellage 36 European integration 38 Globalisation 42 Part II The Formation of Policy 47 3 European Policy-making in the SPD 49 Party organisation 50 The opposition government paradigm 54 The institutional context 59 The federal leadership 60 European policy groups and European policy 62 The SPD in the Bundestag 65 The SPD at Länder level 67 Delegate democracy and the party grass roots 68 4 Policy-making in a Wider Context 70 The national context 71 Political context 72 vii
viii Contents Constitutional and institutional markers 75 Federal structures 77 The media and public opinion 79 The social partners 80 The European context 82 Part III The Dynamics of European Policy in the SPD 85 5 The Next Generation 87 Generational change 89 A more normal Germany? 92 6 Winning Elections and Strategic Change 99 Electoral-strategic change 100 Making majorities 101 Selling policy in government 106 7 A Change of Heart 110 Ideological change 111 The rise of the Neue Mitte 112 The rise of European policy 116 Part IV EU Economic and Monetary Union 123 8 EMU in Opposition: Consensus, Conflict and Conditionality 125 Creating monetary union 126 EMU and the Maastricht Treaty 128 German attitudes to EMU 130 The SPD and EMU 132 Questioning EMU 135 A new SPD strategy? 137 The SPD against EMU? 139 9 Governing the Euro-zone 146 The road to government 147 Monetary Union and European social policy 147 EMU stage III 151 A policy for government 154 Governing the Euro-zone 157
Contents ix Living with the single currency 158 EU social policy and the constraints of the Euro-zone 161 A social democratic Euro-zone? 164 Part V Eastern Enlargement of the European Union 169 10 Eastern Enlargement of the European Union 171 Opening out a hand to the East 172 The criteria for enlargement 176 Reforming the European Union 181 Eastern enlargement and EU reform 181 Agenda 2000 185 11 Reforming for Accession: A New EU for a New Europe 191 The conditions for enlargement 192 Reform of the European Union 199 SPD enlargement policy: a new vision 205 Conclusion 213 Pragmatism, synthesis and vision 213 Future prospects 219 Notes 223 Select Bibliography 257 Index 265
List of Tables and Figures Tables 1.1 Features of SPD European policy in the Bundesrepublik 16 1.2 Main characteristics of pragmatic multilateralism 30 2.1 The development of SPD European policy since 1990 climatic change 33 3.1 Federal government offices of SPD presidium members, December 2003 57 3.2 SPD European policy groups as of October 2001: functions and key personnel 58 4.1 Groups contacted for consultation, July 1993 71 5.1 The development of SPD European policy since 1990 policy dynamics 88 8.1 Federal government/spd support for aspects of European integration 133 Figures I.1 Model for SPD EU policy since reunification 2 1.1 The nature of German power in the EU 22 1.2 General framework for policy formation in the SPD 25 3.1 Policy context the formation of EU policy through the lens of the SPD 50 3.2 The structure of European policy-making in the SPD 63 6.1 Popular support for the European Union in Germany 104 8.1 Support for EMU in Germany, 1990 2003 131 10.1 Volume of trade between Germany and CEE states with populations of more than ten million 177 10.2 Net payments (after redistributions) of Germany, France and the UK, 1992 2000, as a proportion of overall not payments 183 10.3 Average support for enlargement in Germany and the EU and spread in support for different candidate countries, 1998 2003 187 x
Acknowledgements I am indebted to a large number of individuals and organisations, who/which have provided advice and support and have contributed to the analyses included in this study and have made the writing of the book a more rewarding experience than it would otherwise have been: The ESRC for the financial support it has provided for the writing of the book. Professor William Paterson, whose knowledge and expertise contributed immensely to this study (following on from his groundbreaking PhD 30 years earlier), and whose contacts proved invaluable during the research fieldwork. Professor Charlie Jeffery and Dr Jonathan Grix who at various times provided extremely important comments on my work. Debra Bolger, Peter Hill, Alister Miskimmon and Brian Sloam, for their comments and suggestions on the amendments to the chapters. The staff in the Archiv der Sozialen Demokratie for their friendly assistance and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Bonn for giving me access to indispensable archive material and a place to work. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik for the assistance of their staff, and for providing me with the resources with which to conduct my fieldwork in Berlin. The Archiv/Dokumentation Department of the SPD Vorstand in Berlin for allowing me to work in their offices and giving me access to their archives of SPD policy documents and press coverage of the party. All of the many interviewees, particularly the politicians and officials in the SPD, whose thoughts and guidance were an essential part of the work. To all the staff at the Institute for German Studies for their advice and guidance. To my mum and dad, without whom none of this would have been possible. xi