Transformation

This third empirical chapter covers transformation as a crisis outcome category. Transformation implies a fundamental re-organization of the EU system as member states restructure their relationship and reinvent the basic features of the system. In practice, this means that policy measures and objectives, that had previously been considered unfeasible or undesirable, now become part of the system. The two cases in point are the end of the Cold War crisis with the prospect of German unification (1989–1992) and the Euro crisis (2009–2012). Both crises were triggered by exogenous events. Member-state interdependence was extremely high, while France–Germany played a decisive role in crisis resolution. The Euro crisis deserves particular emphasis as it is the only case covered in this book where a supranational actor—the European Central Bank—played a very prominent role in crisis resolution.