The Conversation - Can the bond between Macron and Merkel keep the rest of the EU united?

In the article, Professor Helen Drake, Director of the Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance, discusses the outcomes of the recent EU summit, which was held during the last week of June. 

The summit addressed three headline agenda items: migration; security and defence; and “jobs, growth and competitiveness”.

Key topics that were covered during the summit included the relationship between France and Germany:

Can France and Germany lead the way? They still bear the burden of their historical obligation to co-exist peaceably and to forge bilateral agreement where fundamental differences of opinion exist

The article reflects on this time of political uncertainity for the European Union:

In an age of seeming ungovernability, summits simply don’t help. They expose leaders’ vulnerabilities and project power over forces that threaten to escape them. The EU has done well in the past by muddling through, and we can only hope for more of the same.

The full article is available on The Conversation.

Helen's research focuses on contemporary French politics and EU affairs. She is the research leader for for The UK in a Changing Europe, and she is currently working on the 28+ Perspectives on Brexit project.