Tedeschi, europeisti nonostante tutto

Abstract

Are Germans still pro-Europe? And, even more, may the current behaviour of German Government be called pro-Europe? This work deals with this interesting topic analyz-ing, on one hand, the European policy of German govern-ment, from Adenauer to the current Chancellor Merkel, on the other hand, the European feeling of German citizens. For a long time Europe has been for Germans the only place in which – and through which – it would be possible to re-cover the sovereignty and reunification. To achieve this, Germans would have to be more European than Europe-ans. What did it happen after the reunification? And, more recently, did the economic crisis change German attitude toward Europe? Retracing the political cornerstones of Germany's european membership and then using the Eurobarometer data, comparing the German data to the French and Italian ones, the paper analyses the existing and unquestionably unique link between Germany and Europe.