| Abstract: | In education matters the EU has merely a coordinating function which leaves the member states in full control of their respective education systems. In this article, however, I claim that Europeanisation in education has taken place even before it was officially introduced by the Maastricht Treaty. The aim of this analysis is to explore changes in the German education system as a possible result of Europeanisation. On the basis of institutional and policy analysis in primary, secondary and tertiary education, recent reforms and developments are scrutinised in the light of European integration and globalisation. Despite the obvious dominance of international and global pressures as explanatory variables for reform, it will be argued that a considerable number of features in the German education system are caused by ‘soft’ or indirect Europeanisation. |
