The federalism commission is a German commission composed of members of the upper and lower houses. It has existed three times in German history.

History

The independent Federalism commission 1991-1992

After the

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

of Germany the Bundesrat decided on the 20 of June 1991 to create a commission composed of an equal number of members of all represented parties of the two legislative houses. Its objective was to examine and propose which federal authorities should be introduced into the newly reunified federal states. It was presided by

Bernhard Vogel (politician) Bernhard Vogel (; 19 December 1932 – 2 March 2025) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the 4th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1976 to 1988 and the second Minister President of Thuringia fr ...

Commission on the modernization of the federal state (2003-2004)

The commission was created to reform the division of powers between federal and state authorities. The reform was considered necessary due to the fact that up to 60% of federally voted laws needed to be approved by the federal states through a vote of the Bundesrat. The commission was composed of 16 members of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

and 16 members of the Bundesrat and was presided by co-presidents. Edmund Stoiber representing the

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and Franz Münterfering representing the

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

. In addition to these full members there were also non-voting representatives of the federal government, the state legislatures, local government and academics. Although not initially accepted by the regional states, the proposals (except reform of financial relations) were finally voted by a 2/3 majority on 1 September 2006.

Bundestag and Bundesrat Commission on the modernization of financial relations between federal and state governments (Federalism commission II 2007 - 2009)

The commission was constituted to agree reforms that could initially not be agreed by the 2003 commission.; *Financial relations between state and regions: Division of tax income between the parties, responsibilities of federal government and laws impacting the finances of regional states and municipal government. *reform of the 30 billion euro Financial equalization payments from rich to poor regional states. *Processes to control federal debt growth The commission was composed of 16 members of each of the two legislative assemblies. The co-presidents were Peter Struck for the Bundestag and

Günther Oettinger Günther Hermann Oettinger (born 15 October 1953) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources from 2017 to 2019, as European Commissioner for Digi ...

for the Bundesrat. The first meeting was held on 8 March 2007, and the final meeting in March 2009.

References

{{Reflist Legislative branch of the Government of Germany

History

The independent Federalism commission 1991-1992

Commission on the modernization of the federal state (2003-2004)

Bundestag and Bundesrat Commission on the modernization of financial relations between federal and state governments (Federalism commission II 2007 - 2009)

See also

References