After initially trying to delay reunification, France embraced it, in exchange for Germany’s reaffirming its commitment to European unity and Franco-German leadership of the European community. As a result, Germany bound itself to the idea of “ever closer union” even more definitively by pledging to join the common European currency, the euro.
第三个历史时刻出现在柏林墙倒塌之后，人们恐惧扩张的德国可能威胁到欧洲的稳定。尽管开始时试图延缓德国的统一进程，但法国最终还是接受了德国的统一，条件是德国重申支持欧洲团结和法德两国在欧共体领导地位的态度。结果，德国通过承诺加入欧洲共同货币欧元更为明确地将自己和“更密切联盟”的理念联系在一起。