The crisis in the European Union and the so-called German leadership

The European Union is in crisis because it is unable to manage Europe's relative decline, in all respects, within a global context. The hegemonic position attributed to Germany today derives from the lack of conviction and effectiveness of alternative socio-economic and political models in those countries aspiring to a position of European leadership, i.e., France or the United Kingdom, during the last forty years. In any case, more than German leadership is required to escape this crisis. The history of European integration serves to understand the rise of Germany as much as the foundations of the collective way-out to the present European crisis.