The EU is the perfect illustration of this fact. We can provide foreign aid to small, developing countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. But we can't just give money to Western European countries. It wouldn't look right. Germany is in charge in this sphere.
We can't persuade Germany to accept Anglo notions of economics. They have German notions. We say they should print money. They say they want more austerity.
We're stuck with that. As a member of Merkel's cabinet said, “Europe is speaking German.”