NATO and CSDP: party and public positioning in Germany and France

• NDC Policy Brief 11-20: NATO and CSDP: party and public positioning in Germany and France, by Konstantin Gavras, Thomas J. Scotto, Jason Reifler, Stephanie Hofmann, Catarina Thomson, Matthias Mader, Harald Schoen*

On the eve of NATO’s 70th anniversary, French President Macron called NATO “brain dead” while advocating for increased European defence capacity, possibly alongside NATO rather than through it. The German reaction was cold. Defence Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer responded: “If we reinforce Europe’s defence, we have to reinforce the European presence within NATO”.1 Which path is the future of European security likely to take, and do elites and the public see these paths as mutually exclusive?

Considering domestic politics is essential when thinking about the future of European security and defence. Governments of differing political outlooks shape policy agendas. The political parties that form governments, in turn, are constrained by the preferences of voters who put them in power.

This Policy Brief summarizes German and French party positions towards NATO and European defence, and examines public opinion in both countries using survey data we collected in the fall of 2019.