75 Years of the Basic Law: Is Our Federal System Still Fit for Purpose?
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Basic Law, the conference will discuss current issues regarding the further development and modernization of the German federal state. Although federalism in Germany has always shown itself to be capable of change and adaptation, the conference will address the question of whether it is still fit for the challenges of the future in its current form, or whether there is a further need for reforms, including of the Basic Law. In the past two decades alone, federalism has been the subject of a three-stage state reform. Since then, the federal government and the states have had to solve not only increasingly complex tasks. Rather, mutually reinforcing crises also remain on the agenda for a longer period of time. These challenges put the federal division of tasks as well as cooperation between the federal government and the states to the test.
The conference will deal with essential future tasks of the federal state, such as climate policy, energy policy, and the digitization of public tasks. What reform needs are there for the institutional framework of the federal state, and what obstacles must be overcome in order to master these tasks? The conference seeks answers to these central questions of our constitution in close exchange between science and practice.
Language: German with translation into English (for international guests)
Conference programme
- From 9:00 a.m. registration and coffee
- 9:30 – 10:00 a.m. Welcome Address
- 10:00 – 10:30 a.m. Keynote: Nancy Faeser, Federal Minister of the Interior and Community
- 10:30 – 10:45 a.m. Coffee break
- 10:45 – 12:15 p.m. Panel 1: Climate Policy and Federalism
- Prof. Dr. Lilian Busse, Vice President, The Umweltbundesamt
- Prof. Alan Fenna, Ph.D., Curtin University, Perth, Australia
- H.E. John Horgan, Ambassador of Canada to Germany, former Premier of British Columbia
- Dr. Carsten Sieling, Board of Directors, Forum of Federations, former Mayor of the city of Bremen
- Discussion Moderator: Prof. Dr. Nathalie Behnke, Technische Universität Darmstadt
- 12:15 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch break
- 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. Panel 2: Energy Policy and Federalism
- Prof. Dr. Michèle Knodt, Technische Universität Darmstadt
- Prof. Dr. Carsten Kühl, Scientific Director, German Institute of Urban Affairs, former Minister of Finance, Rhineland-Palatia
- Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Karl-Heinz Paqué, President, Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation for Freedom, former Minister of Finance, Saxony-Anhalt
- Barbie Kornelia Haller, Vice-President, Federal Network Agency
- Discussion Moderator: Birgit Kolkmann, freelance journalist
- 3:00 – 3:30 p.m. Coffee break
- 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. Panel 3: Digitalisation and Federalism
- Dr. Esther Dweck, Minister of Management and Innovation in Public Services, Government of Brazil
- Dorothea Störr-Ritter, Member of the National Regulatory Control Council
- Thomas Minger, Deputy Secretary General, Conference of Cantonal Governments, Switzerland
- Dr. Markus Richter, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community and Federal Government Commissioner for Information Technology
- Discussion Moderator: Birgit Kolkmann, freelance journalist
- 5:00 – 5:15 p.m. Break
- 5:15 – 6:45 p.m. Roundtable: How robust and sustainable is the German federal state?
- Introductory Statement: Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert, President, Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation, former Speaker of the Bundestag
- Prof. Dr. Stefan Korioth, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
- Prof. Dr. Sabine Kropp, Freie Universität Berlin
- Discussion Moderator: Korbinian Frenzel, Deutschlandfunk / Deutschlandradio Kultur
- Reception