Finding Common Ground: U.S. Export Controls in a Changed Global Environment, Commissioned Papers (1991)

Summary: This study examines the Federal Republic of Germany’s (FRG) and the European Community’s (EC) perspectives on and disagreements with the US on the future of the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export (CoCom) embargo in light of the developments in the Eastern bloc since the Fall of 1989. Three elements determine the FRG’s position. The first is a series of policy differences between the US and the FRG regarding adequate responses of their governments to developments in the East. The second element concerns the “structural realities” of the impending unification of the two Germanies. Finally, the FRG’s perspective on the issue of CoCom has been influenced by the pressure from the opposition and the business community.