The Limits of Transnational Solidarity and the Eurozone Crisis in Germany, Ireland and Slovakia

Abstract

This paper presents contrasting stories of three pro-EU nations, Germany, Ireland and Slovakia, which have seen their European projects put on a collision course with their political traditions, expectations and material interests. Slovaks can no longer be confident in strengthening their post-communist democracy through its engagement with Europe. In Germany, people are concerned that they can no longer trust their currency, the euro, let alone see it as the bedrock of economic and political stability. Germans are also profoundly worried about the erosion of the rule of law, the Rechtsstaat, through euro rescue measures, which are yet to prove their effectiveness. In Ireland too, people who had experienced European integration as hugely beneficial, both economically and politically, have been forced to question their commitments. To sum up, many German, Slovak and Irish citizens have seen their EU-integration goals severely undermined by the crisis. What is more, the strategies that have been employed to safeguard the single currency have resulted in increased scepticism towards the European project as such. Instead of differentiated integration, the conflicting goals may well be pointing towards Europe’s disintegration.