Breaking the Budgetary Taboo: German Preference Formation in the EU's Response to the Covid-19 Crisis

In the face of coronavirus pandemic, German government embraced a major shift towards grants-based EU recovery fund relying on common European debt. How can we explain this impetus, especially in view reticent fiscal stance previous years and early stages pandemic? To elucidate question, paper provides qualitative inquiry into preference formation during spring 2020. Theoretically, it reconciles liberal intergovernmentalist discursive accounts context politics stressing intertwined nature simultaneousness national arenas. We hypothesise that, along with material self-interests, construction framing pandemic as certain type crisis was key. Examining stances taken by federal government, commercial groups key actors such France Commission, our findings point to rapid realignment political economic circles. Overall, analysis suggests that times crisis, assumed preferences are subject reconfiguration thus allowing for contingent responses.