The framing of the euro crisis and the contribution of the German policy paradigm

Abstract

Throughout the last three years, the Euro-zone has been facing a severe crisis jeopardising its very existence. The research question this article seeks to address is two-fold: how is the Euro crisis framed by Germany and its Euro-zone partners and why in this way? The importance of successfully addressing this research question rests upon the idea that the Euro crisis provides a very useful opportunity to explore the way framing unfolds and if, then, it can offer practical policy solutions. Thus, the question is not how policy problems are formally and objectively defined, but how these problems are defined by key political actors.