EU Finalité Conceptions After Brexit: A Comparison of Polish and German Parties

Abstract The future of the EU as a laboratory of a transnational community of nations within an increasingly split global community of actors could become ever more relevant, the more the global future of democracy needs transnational cooperation among differently structured democracies. Yet the reality on the ground is complex in the heartland of the respective experimentation as well. Against this backdrop, the article deals with deepening and differentiation of European integration through the prism of two cases: Germany and Poland. While the former is the most populous among fully integrated EU member states, the latter is by now the biggest partially integrated member state having not yet joined the Eurozone, nor showing any inclination to do so in the future. These countries differ in many respects, to name just the Eurozone, defense matters, rule of law, and migration. And yet, in the eyes of some observers, close German-Polish cooperation is just as essential for the future of Europe as the Franco-German partnership. In this sense, the comparison of Poland and Germany promises to unveil problématiques typical for the entire EU, in particular with regard to differentiated integration.