Special Relations, Special Foreign Policy? the Franco-German Friendship, French and German Trade Preferences, and the EU Position in Gatt/WTO Negotiations

In case studies on states’ foreign policies, the ‘special’ relationship with particular partners is a phenomenon that sometimes surfaces as a variable of importance. In this vein, the Franco-German tandem is considered the engine of European integration and an Anglo-American special relationship is assumed to have emerged during World War II. Nevertheless, the phenomenon ‘special relationship’ and the way it affects states’ foreign policies is undertheorized. How can a special relationship be hypothesized to affect a state’s foreign policy (preferences) and how can this effect be measured?

This paper will focus on the Franco-German relationship and aims to conceptualize the phenomenon in a more general manner, elaborating pathways through which a special relationship can be expected to affect French and German policies and hence EU policies. Two main pathways of influence are distinguished, one rationalist and political (operating through the state’s consideration of its political interest) and one ideational  (emphasizing the effect of institutionalized norms and self-identification). Next, scope conditions will be formulated under which the different pathways of influence are more or less likely to operate. The model will then be applied to French and German preferences on agricultural trade policy during the GATT Uruguay Round (1986-1993) and the WTO Doha Round (2000-).

The paper will conclude with a reflection on the explanatory power of the model in the case at hand and on what the findings may imply for current pressing issues in the EU, such as the debate on how to handle the sovereign debt crisis. Finally, the paper will reflect on the degree to which and how the causal pathways distinguished in the very familiar special relationship of the Franco-German friendship, can also be applied to other special relationships.