26
OCT
2026
It is of great importance that the AfD postpones the possible exit from the EU [1] and classifies the European internal market as a central element of cooperation at European level. The internal market is indispensable for the German economy. Although today it does not reach the export record share that it achieved in the 1990s and 2000s, at that time it temporarily absorbed almost two-thirds of total exports. But it is currently growing again due to the weakening of exports to the USA and China and has recently risen from 54 percent in 2024 to 56 percent in 2025 - without Great Britain, which was still included in the 1990s and 2000s. Brexit indirectly shows what advantages the German economy is drawing from the EU internal market: After the British exit from the EU, German exports to the United Kingdom fell from 89 billion euros in 2015 – the year before the Brexit referendum – to around 73.5 billion euros. In times of global crises like today, the internal market is proving to be a lifeline for the German export economy, which hardly any entrepreneur really wants to do without. Its retention is one of the demands that the medium-sized economy, which sometimes sympathises with the AfD [2], has always maintained.
The situation with the euro is not quite so clear. Although Germany, as a study published in 2019 by the Centre for European Policy (CEP) shows, has benefited more than all other euro countries from the introduction of the single currency; it owed the euro in the years from 1999 to 2017 it owed additional benefits of almost 1.9 trillion euros in the amount of almost 1.9 trillion euros. 3] For comparison: According to CEP, France lost a good 3.6 trillion euros in the same period due to currency, Italy even 4.3 trillion euros. But the German economy is not existentially dependent on the common currency. This is already shown by the fact that Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are constantly among their most important locations and most important trading partners in Europe [4], although they still hold on to their national currencies today. The fact that the German economy in its entirety has so far relied on the euro is also due to the fact that it is weaker than a purely German currency would be; thereby promoting exports. However, this is particularly opposed to this in times of crisis by the fact that even a single economically crashing country – like Greece in the years from 2009 – can shake the entire currency. This can certainly be repeated; currently, there is sometimes discussion about a possibly impending serious financial crisis in deeply indebted France.
The AfD now declares that it wants to stick to the euro in principle. However, it demands that the Maastricht criteria – in particular a ceiling for public debt of 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and an upper limit for the budget deficit of 3 percent of GDP – be strictly adhered to, and this must be enforced, if necessary. This amounts to an austerity policy that is even tougher than the current Europe-wide demolition of the welfare state. The European Central Bank (ECB) should focus strictly on price stability and abandon any form of equalizing government financing; this would no longer allow countries to be hit by crisis in order to support the single EU currency. The AfD is also calling for a change in the voting rights in the Governing Council. These are already unevenly distributed; smaller countries in particular have significantly lost their influence.[ 5] In the future, Germany shall - "in view of its economic and financial weight" - "receive vowing rights that are appropriate to its economic significance". This would amount to a clear German dominance within the central bank based in Frankfurt am Main - especially in the conceivable case of a possible financial crisis in a Euroland, such as France.
In central fields of the economy, where the dependence of the European states on the USA and China currently threatens or even already exists, the AfD is aggressively relying on a closed approach by the EU to achieve "strategic autonomy". This means an independent ability to act, if necessary also against the will of other powers. To this end, the AfD wants to bundle Europe's technological strengths - from space exploration to AI models: "Europe must be a competence center that ensures its freedom through technological breakthroughs." At the same time, the party insists on closer cooperation in the European defense industry. In "key areas", such as drones or military applications of AI, a "joint development" of war equipment must be initiated. In addition, it is important to use EU armoods throughout Europe in order to create "a common arsenal of nations". In this case, only cooperation ensures "technological independence" and the necessary industrial economies of scale. The AfD only openly rejects the demand for the establishment of an EU army; any decision on war and peace must remain with the European nation states in the long run.
In most other policy areas, the AfD calls for a strict reduction in EU activities and a focus on measures that strengthen the EU for global power struggles. Thus, the external borders against unwanted migrants, who may bind capacities, are to be sealed off even more martially than before. Any redistribution in the EU must be reduced to the bare minimum, welfare state measures at EU level must be ended, it is said. The AfD strategy paper provides for a considerable shift in competences away from Brussels and back to the national capitals; thus, the competences of the EU Commission are to be reduced more or less to administrative work, the European parliamentarians are no longer directly elected, but are sent by the national parliaments. Wherever the EU refuses to give up competences, Berlin must push ahead with an "opt-out" and seek to force the strengthening of the nation states; there is talk of a "federation of European nations". At the same time, the AfD pleads for an ideological formation on a right-wing conservative, partly völkisch basis. It is said that "the Christian and Western heritage" of the continent should be strengthened and the heterosexual-patriarchal family should be upgraded. The "suprem goal" is "the preservation of the cultural identity of the peoples of Europe".
The AfD names the year 2029 as the starting date for the realization of its Europe program. Then the Bundestag and the European Parliament will be elected; in both houses the AfD - not unfounded at present - hopes for a right-wing majority. Ultra-right parties could then continue to be in power in Italy if the right-wing alliance under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wins the election again next year. >From next year, France could also be governed by Marine Le Pen. In Spain, a right-wing-right coalition from Partido Popular (PP) and Vox could take office after the election at the end of November 2026. This would all govern the four largest states of the EU from the right, and a right-wing majority would also be possible in the European Parliament. Crisis-like aggravations - for example, a new financial crisis, a new war - that could suddenly enable a transformation of the EU are not included. The AfD has presented a conceivable blueprint for this with its Europe Strategy Paper.
[1] Quotes here and below: AfD delegation in the EU Parliament: Sovereign Nations, a Common Europe. Reshaping European Cooperation. Position Paper. Brussels, 29 September 2026.
[2] S. "No room for fire walls" (II) and "Shaking the country".
[3] Alessandro Gasparotti, Matthias Kullas: 20 years of Euro: losers and winners. cepStudie. Freiburg, February 2019.
[4] S. to this Back to Europe.
[5] How voting rights rotate in the Governing Council. bundesbank.de 19.09.2014.