Germany’s AfD Softens Its Anti-Euro Stance as Far Right Gains Ground

Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is reassessing its longstanding opposition to the European Union and the euro as it gains political influence and moves closer to becoming a potential governing force. The shift marks a significant adjustment for a party established in 2013 around opposition to eurozone bailout policies and Germany’s financial commitments to struggling European economies.

The reassessment comes amid a broader advance of nationalist and Eurosceptic parties across Europe. Following a historic victory in the September regional election in Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD has strengthened its position as one of Germany’s leading political forces. Its growing electoral support has intensified internal discussions about how to translate its protest movement identity into a programme that could accommodate participation in government.

For the party, the challenge is increasingly practical. Its traditional demands for Germany to abandon the common currency and potentially leave the EU have helped distinguish it from the established political parties. However, these positions could also complicate its efforts to establish working relationships with other conservative forces, particularly Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which continues to rule out cooperation with the AfD.

From leaving Europe to reshaping it

The proposed adjustment does not represent an abandonment of the party’s opposition to the current model of European integration. Instead, the AfD is increasingly presenting an alternative based on a looser association of sovereign states, with substantially reduced powers for EU institutions.

The change is outlined in a strategy paper presented by AfD co-leader Alice Weidel in Strasbourg alongside political allies from the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) grouping. The proposal, described as a New Deal for Europe, calls for renegotiating the EU treaties and reorganising the relationship between national governments and European institutions.

Under the proposed model, member states would have greater freedom to opt out of common policies, including arrangements concerning defence spending and immigration. The paper also advocates stricter enforcement of budgetary rules and a redistribution of competences towards national governments.

Importantly, the proposal leaves open the possibility of Germany remaining in the eurozone. Rather than making withdrawal from the common currency an immediate political objective, the party would first seek to transform the institutional framework underpinning European monetary and economic cooperation. If these efforts failed, the question of Germany’s future relationship with the EU and the euro could ultimately be put to a referendum.

Weidel has described the proposed arrangement as a European union built around a Europe of fatherlands. However, she has avoided providing a definitive answer on whether the AfD still considers German withdrawal from the eurozone or the EU a necessary long-term objective.

The distinction is politically important. The party is not embracing the existing European integration project but attempting to redefine its institutional foundations while preserving the economic advantages of membership.

The economic calculation behind the shift

The debate also reflects concerns about the economic consequences of a potential German departure from the eurozone. Germany's economy is deeply integrated into European supply chains and depends heavily on exports to other EU member states. A return to a national currency would therefore carry considerable economic and financial implications, extending beyond the immediate question of monetary sovereignty.

For parts of the younger AfD membership, maintaining access to European markets and avoiding unnecessary economic disruption are becoming increasingly important considerations. They argue that the party's political objectives could be pursued more effectively by changing the EU from within than by advocating a withdrawal that could create uncertainty for businesses and investors.

This position also reflects a generational debate within the party. Younger representatives, including Jean-Pascal Hohm, who leads the AfD's youth organisation Generation Deutschland, have questioned whether uncompromising positions on European integration could undermine the party's prospects of eventually cooperating with other conservative forces.

The issue is particularly relevant as the AfD seeks to expand its appeal beyond voters attracted primarily by its anti-immigration and anti-establishment positions. A more flexible European policy could make the party's economic programme appear more compatible with the interests of businesses, exporters and voters concerned about Germany's international competitiveness.

Nevertheless, the proposed recalibration remains controversial. The party's original opposition to the euro was not simply a negotiating position but one of its defining political principles. Moving away from it risks creating tensions between established supporters and a younger generation more focused on electoral opportunities.

A wider European pattern

The AfD's reassessment follows a trajectory already visible among several influential right-wing parties elsewhere in Europe. France's National Rally gradually abandoned its longstanding demand for leaving the eurozone under Marine Le Pen as it sought to broaden its electoral appeal and present itself as a credible contender for national power. The party is now positioning itself for the 2027 presidential election without making euro withdrawal a central campaign demand.

Italy offers another example. Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy moderated much of its Eurosceptic rhetoric after entering government, choosing to pursue its political objectives through existing European institutions rather than directly challenging Italy's EU membership.

Austria's Freedom Party has also moved away from several of its earlier anti-European positions as it has sought a role in national governing coalitions. These developments suggest that participation in government can encourage radical right-wing parties to distinguish between their ideological objectives and the policies they can realistically implement.

For the AfD, these examples provide a potential political blueprint. Its leadership can retain criticism of Brussels and advocate a transfer of powers back to national governments while avoiding an immediate confrontation over German membership of the common currency.

However, the broader political environment is also changing. The increasing electoral strength of nationalist and Eurosceptic forces gives these parties greater confidence that their ideas can influence European policy without requiring them to leave the institutions they oppose.

The limits of the AfD's repositioning

Despite the strategic adjustment, the party remains divided over the extent to which it should moderate its European positions. The debate has extended beyond economic policy into questions of national identity and the political meaning of European cooperation.

A resolution by the AfD's youth wing affirming a European identity was recently withdrawn after failing to secure sufficient support. The episode illustrates the difficulties of reconciling different ideological currents within a party whose political identity has been shaped by opposition to European integration.

The distinction between reforming the EU and dismantling its existing institutional foundations also remains unresolved. While the proposed strategy presents continued membership as an option, its emphasis on national opt-outs and the reduction of common competences would substantially weaken the current model of integration.

For European governments, the implications extend beyond Germany's domestic political competition. Germany remains one of the EU's central economic and political actors, and any future participation by the AfD in federal government would give the party an opportunity to influence debates over the bloc's budget, migration arrangements, defence cooperation and institutional reform.

The immediate significance of the strategy is therefore not that Germany is approaching an exit from the eurozone, but that a party once defined by demands for withdrawal is increasingly seeking to make its vision of Europe politically viable through institutional change.

If the AfD continues to gain support, its approach could strengthen a broader movement towards an EU in which national governments exercise greater control over common policies. Rather than challenging European integration through withdrawal, nationalist parties may increasingly seek to reshape it from within, using their growing electoral influence to alter the balance of power between Brussels and national capitals.