[Cronos]

quite different. Note that Germany is a very Federal, decentralized country with their federal government having less power than ours. In contrast, France is a very centralized country -- everything revolves around Paris.

For the Germans to move an administrative role from Berlin to Brussels is little more than the move from Bonn to Berlin. the individual states in Germany will remain powerful and independent.

it's the same in Spain.

But France would have a problem giving up power to Brussels because it would go against 400 years of French history and admin

[Olog-hai]

Germany’s federal government has less power than whom?

The Bundestag and the Constitutional Court have the power to approve every EU law. It's been doing that behind the scenes, but got that power formally back in 2009 when the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe openly gave it to them and itself. I’d say that makes it more powerful than the USA’s federal government at this point, giving it power over 26 other EU member states and yet more states beyond that are in the European Economic Area that have to comply with EU law. Der Spiegel quotes the Süddeutsche Zeitung here:

German politicians will need to become involved with every new law, no matter how small. The excuse, “Oh, those people in Brussels did it,” just won’t fly anymore. And with this decision, European integration becomes part of Germany's domestic politics. Brussels is no longer just a side dish, but a main course; and local politicians are going to have to come to grips with what happens there. …

As long as the constitution remains valid (and it can only be superseded by a national referendum), Karlsruhe is likely to have the last word on issues of jurisprudence and the constitution—even over the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. This could cause some tension and conflict. But anything is better than apathy. …