"Assessing the Impact of the New Europe and the New Germany on Money, Welfare, and Police in Small European Countries"

This paper examines the impact of EC/EU decisions and directives plus the influence of the Federal Republic of Germany on domestic institutions and policies in Belgium and the Netherlands. It selects three areas: monetary integration (EMS/EMU), social policy/security, law enforcement/Europol to speculate on the future of post-Maastricht Europe and to investigate whether small members-states are at risk of losing their unique national traits and features. The conclusion of the paper is that neither the EU nor Germany have drastically altered the mode and discourse of politics and policy-making in either country. The absence of German influence is attributed to the actions of German politicians who restrain themselves from imposing their will on their small neighbors. A larger puzzle 'is'why there are so few traces of the new Europe in the domestic institutions and politics of Belgium and the Netherlands. The paper argues that policy discussions and political deliberations take place against a national/domestic backdrop. Many domestic issues have not yet been Europeanized because elections are held nationally, because political parties and interest groups think domestically, and because the EU has not made much progress in areas other than monetary and economic integration