ABSTRACT
Under the radar of low unemployment and perceived economic hegemony over Europe, Germany is currently experiencing a transformation of political discourse, one that is strongly shaped by growing Euroscepticism. While the country has been a traditional driver of European integration, public support began to wane as early as the late 1990s. In the lead up to the introduction of the Euro, such scepticism was palpable: ‘Amongst the German population there has been widespread perception and resentment that preparations for a single European currency were undertaken behind closed doors in Bonn to avoid alarming the “innocent” or “naïve” public’ (Teschner 2000: 80f). The potential was emerging for mainstream political parties to tap into this Eurosceptic sentiment, yet they refrained from doing so at the time (Lees 2002).
