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Germany in EU: A Story of Mutual Success

3. The time of great decisions (Germany's European Policy, 1980-1990) (1930-2017)

Helmut Kohl was born in 1930 in Ludwigshafen. At the end of the war Kohl was mobilized in air defense by an assistant on anti-aircraft guns, but he did not have to participate in military operations. 1950-1956 - study at the University of Heidelberg (History and Law). Upon graduation he worked as a research assistant, in 1958 he defended his thesis. In 1946 – while being a pupil enters the CDU. Elections 1976 Since 1953 - Member of the Board of the CDU in Rhineland-Palatinate, from 1966 to 1974 - Chairman of the CDU office in Rhineland- Palatinate. Since 1966 Helmut Kohl - a member of the federal board of the CDU, in 1973 received the post of chairman of the CDU party. 1982-1998 - the Sixth Federal Chancellor. Elected during a constructive vote of non- confidence to Helmut Schmidt, the first successful one in the Bundestag history (1982). Elections 1980 European policy of Helmut Kohl (1982-1998) European integration is the absolute priority of Helmut Kohl’s foreign policy. In the field of economics he continued the line of predecessors of the Social Democrats and immediately spoke in favor of deepening the political union (European political cooperation). Helmut Kohl Kohl planned and implemented initiatives for the development of the European integration together with French President Francois Mitterrand. The fruitful cooperation of these two great European politicians is called by researchers the “happy event for Francois Mitterand Europe”. Crisis management (1982-1984) The priority task was to overcome the period of "Eurosclerosis". The Genscher-Colombo Plan was introduced in 1981 (supported by Helmut Kohl): - of the European Parliament; - rejection of the veto principle in at the Council; - creation of a secretariat in the field of foreign policy cooperation; - the involvement of the main Community bodies in the ENP system; - consistent coordination of economic policies of the EEC countries and the further development of the European Monetary System; - expansion of the EEC at the expense of the countries of the Iberian Peninsula. In 1983 at the European Council Summit in Stuttgart the “Solemn Declaration on the European Union” was adopted, and a year later the European Parliament approved the draft “Treaty on the European Union”. The competence of the Union should cover those areas in which joint (supranational) decisions are more effective than the actions of each individual state. Union actions outside this jurisdiction should be authorized by joint decisions of the European Parliament and the Council. These documents to a greater degree fixed the willingness to compromise and move forward. The role of the Federal Republic of Germany and Kohl personally in promoting these initiatives is important. Single European Act 1986

1986 - Single European Act (SEA) that became the first major revision of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The Act focuses the European Community on creating a common market by December 31, 1992, and formulates the principles of the European political cooperation. An important innovation was the consolidation in the contract of several "common policies": regional, scientific and technical, environmental protection. 1986 - a single official symbolism of the Helmut Kohl European Communities was approved: a flag with a blue cloth in the shape of a rectangle in the center of which 12 golden stars were placed in a circle. Maastricht Treaty 1992 February 7, 1992 - the Maastricht Treaty (Treaty on European Union). The Treaty entered into force on November 1, 1993. The Treaty concluded the case of previous years for the settlement of the monetary and political systems of European countries.

Content

• Economic and Monetary Union (introduction of a common euro currency) • Common Foreign and Security Policy • Democratization • Cooperation on domestic and legal policy • General Social Policy Protocol 1990 Features of German policy (policy towards the GDR) by H. Kohl: - (independence from the state of relations between the USSR and the USA); - underlining the “European context” (Genscher: “German is the European peace policy”); - pragmatism. The reunification of Germany took place in the form of the accession of the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany. The accession of the GDR led to: 1. The collapse of the eastern block. Summer 1989 - the wave of revolutionary changes in Eastern Europe ("velvet ") 2. The economic dependence of the GDR from Germany. The government of G. Kohl assumed the guarantee for the loans that German banks began to issue the GDRs widely. The East German state fell into economic dependence on Germany. 3. Partnership with the victorious powers in II. The final agreement 2 (Germany and the GDR) +4 (allies).

October 3, 1990 - Day of German Unity, a national holiday in Germany. Fall of the Euro Introduction Mitterrand tied France’s consent to reunion with Kohl’s consent to the “deepening of the economic union and monetary union”, i.e. on the introduction of a common currency. The European Economic and Monetary Union was created in 3 steps: 1. From July 1, 1990 - free circulation of capital between the member countries of the EEC; 2. From January 1, 1994 - the founding of the European Monetary Institute (the predecessor of the European Central Bank) and re- checking the state of the budgets of the member states. 3. On January 1, 1999 - the establishment of the European Central Bank and the final determination of the exchange rates of national currencies against the euro. On May 2, 1998 in Brussels the heads of state and government of the European Community (including Helmut Kohl) agreed to introduce the euro. Kohl acted against the will of a wide majority of the population. In an interview, he said: "In one case [the introduction of the euro] I was like a ." Kohl understood that the introduction of the euro would cost him the votes. In the future, the euro proved to be one of the most stable world currencies.