From integration to competition: Britain, Germany and the EU’s new group dynamics

Abstract:
Sociological research on group dynamics highlights how easily the EU, originally set up to pursue closer integration, might become an arena for competition for ‘dominance’ between its members. This EPIN Commentary looks at the clash between the German and UK governments in December 2011 and again in March 2012, as a case study of this emerging political dynamic between the EU’s core members and the outliers.