A Critical Juncture in Franco-German Relations: The Emergence of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly.

This thesis provides a comprehensive study of the establishment process of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly (FGPA). Created in 2019, the FGPA is an unprecedented form of parliamentary cooperation between the German Bundestag and the French Assemblée nationale and is part of a larger phenomenon of international parliamentary assemblies (IPA) worldwide. The FGPA consists of a total of 100 members of parliament and puts the bilateral relationship on a more integrated level. Before, the relationship consisted mainly of the close institutionalised ties between the governments. However, as a parliamentary body, it is a rather weak institution such as other IPAs. For instance, its decisions are not legally binding. If it has limited powers, the question arises as to why the German Bundestag and the French Assemblée nationale created this common body which ties up important parliamentary resources. This qualitative case study demonstrates the reasons for the creation of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly and identifies the motives of the founding actors. In doing so, it provides valuable insights into the creation process of an IPA. More concretely, the in-depth study traced the bilateral negotiations for the set-up of the new parliamentary body as they were experienced by 21 members of the German and the French parliament and documented in interviews, parliamentary resolutions and reports, with the method of process-tracing. Based on historical institutionalism theory and the critical juncture framework (Collier & Collier, 1991), the study found evidence that explains how specific political events, actors, and ideas causally interlocked, formed a critical juncture in the bilateral relations, and produced the FGPA. This causal interplay is referred to as Franco-German Parliamentary Causal Mechanism. It reveals that Franco-German relations were stagnating in the mid-2010s until national elections in both countries took place in 2017. In France, the election of pro-European President Macron resulted in a major political change, while in Germany an unexpected political vacuum occurred after the elections. Both political situations, combined with a slow governmental rapprochement, formed the permissive conditions for parliamentary actors and ideas in favour of strong bilateral relations to establish the new assembly. These actors were mainly convinced that Franco-German friendship needs to be deepened by a closer parliamentary link and that parliamentary democracy must be extended to the bilateral level. The normative and ideational key motives of the founding actors were identified with the help of qualitative data analysis. Rationalist considerations of the actors also played a role, but to a lesser degree.