Unification and Maastricht: The response of the Länder governments

Abstract

German unification and the deepening of European integration proposed at Maastricht both represent major challenges to the established structures and procedures of the federal system. The responses of the Länder governments ‐ the most important subnational actors in the federal system ‐ to these challenges are, however, often neglected and misunderstood. The two documents presented and translated in this contribution demonstrate a two fold strategy on the part of the Länder governments for the defence of the powers and status of the Länder in the federal system. The aim of the Länder governments is both to reassert the principle of subsidiarity vis‐à‐vis federation and EC, and also to entrench more firmly their rights of policy co‐determination alongside the federation and the EC. Although this twofold strategy is entirely consistent with the traditions of the Federal Republic, the problems posed by the incorporation of the new Länder cast severe doubt on the potential for its realisation.