Bridging a Differentiated Union: The Polish-German Tandem in Euro-Plus Governance

The necessity of strengthening eurozone economic governance is undisputed. Given the existence of so called pre-ins (which are committed to joining the common currency), however, this cannot occur only at the level of the eurozone’s 17 members and over the head of the EU institutions. A genuine Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) must be reconciled with the vital interests of all EU Member States, in particular the “pre-ins”. This difficult situation creates an opportunity for the emerging German–Polish relationship as a key to maintaining the EU’s integrity in a more-differentiated Union.