Hessen's Minister President Boris Rhein wants no more new pacts with the federal government. He criticizes that such agreements burden the states in the long term and calls for a federalism reform. Rhein also distances himself from Markus Söder's idea of merging federal states.
Hessen's Minister President Boris Rhein (CDU) has clearly positioned himself against further so-called pacts with the federal government. 'We can no longer afford this,' he told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). The politician criticizes that the federal government puts topics like judicial positions, childcare, and digitalization on display, provides some funding, and then leaves the states alone. 'After a short time, we are left with the pact on our own.'
Rhein cited the Pact for the Rule of Law as an example. The federal government finances judicial positions for a maximum of one to two years. 'Judges are civil servants. If we hire them at 27, we as a state will finance them for another 38 or 39 years until retirement.' Even financially strong Hessen has reached the end of its possibilities.
Additionally, Rhein countered Bavarian Minister President Markus Söder's (CSU) demand for state mergers for savings reasons. 'It's like summer debates about the Loch Ness Monster: They keep coming up. That's why I won't participate,' Rhein explained. Each federal state has its own culture, tradition, and history. Söder had proposed reducing the number of 16 states to make structures more competitive and threatens to sue over the state financial equalization. Bavaria, Hessen, and Baden-Württemberg are among the donor states.
Rhein instead advocates for a major federalism reform. Contributions from donor states should be limited, and recipient states given conditions. 'Future allocations must also be linked to measurable reform steps in recipient states, for example in areas like administrative efficiency and debt reduction.' 'I also don't want to talk to the federal government about these so-called pacts anymore. They lead to nothing.'
