This article analyzes the German leadership in settlement of the three crises faced by the European Union – the eurozone crisis (2009-2015), migration crisis (2015-2020), and COVID-19 crisis (2020-2021) – in order to determine the specificity of the leadership of Germany in the EU. The conceptual approach for the analysis includes the leadership criteria offered by the German researcher Joachim Schild, which allow drawing the line between the hegemonic and non-hegemonic leadership, as well as consider the factor of legitimacy and soft power. The author also discusses the role of factors that hold back the fulfillment of the leadership potential of Germany. The novelty this research consists in application of this approach for determining the specificity of German leadership on the example of settlement of crises and challenges faced by the European Union, including the ongoing crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The use of case study method allows concluding that Germany, indued with, is capable to show its leadership potential only in the conditions of cooperation with France. The author believes that its successful leadership is impeded by the domestic political factors and politicization of the European agenda in the EU member-states. The relevance of drawn conclusions consists in their contribution to further analysis and forecast of the foreign policy actions of Germany aimed at settling the COVID-19 crisis and other challenges faced by the European Union at the current stage of development.