Beyond Transactionalism: Germany’s Role in Intra-EU and EU-Turkey Cooperation on Migration During the Syrian Refugee Crisis

Drawing on hegemonic stability theory (HST) and accounts of transactionalism, we analyse Germany’s role in EU migration policy in the immediate response to the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015/16. We ask whether Germany followed short-term self-interested considerations in line with transactionalism or whether it acted as a benevolent hegemon both vis-à-vis its European partners and indeed Turkey. A benevolent hegemon is defined as a leader that is ready to create a public good from which its partners benefit as well, and potentially even more than itself. To do so, we study the cases of Germany’s suspension of Dublin III in September 2015, internal EU relocation and the 2016 EU-Turkey Statement. Analysing EU documents, international press, and secondary data, we find that Germany pursued self-interested goals in its crisis response, but also engaged in refugee responsibility-sharing, thus providing the public good of stability to other member states and partly to Turkey. It thus exceeded a purely transactionalist logic and has to some extent acted as a benevolent hegemon.