German Policy-making and Eastern Enlargement of the European Union During the Kohl Era: Managing the Agenda?

Investigating the influences on Germany’s policy-making resulting from the East Central European states’ negotiations to join the European Union, this text looks in depth at German European policy. It then moves on to consider domestic policy, the European Union and its relations with Germany and finally the negotiations of East Central European states with German bureaucracy. Stephen Collins studies the bureaucratic decision-making processes of the Federal Republic, which have evolved over time and have remained generally consistent, irrespective of the government in power. He also examines the significance of the role of Chancellor in the policy-making process, the influence of particular individuals and organizations on the way German EU policy is formulated, the extent to which German bureaucratic systems are Europeanized , and factors which have hampered the policy-making process, such as inter-ministerial rivalry and routine operating systems.