1. Conference of Minister Presidents: State Modernization with Need for Review

• IT Landscape: States also in favor of constitutional amendment
• WhatsApp message to the authorities should suffice
• Data Protection Supervision: MPK Paper Remains Vague
• Further need for consultation after intensive discussions

It is a central promise of the black-red federal government: to modernize responsibilities and processes in the state. The Minister Presidents have now agreed on their "Federal Modernization Agenda".

At least on one goal, there is no criticism even from the opposition: the state should be capable of acting. But how this is to be achieved has been a matter of debate for years. After the black-red cabinet Merz decided in early October how the government envisions this at the federal level, negotiations between the federal government and the states continued in parallel. In Germany, the vast majority of administrative responsibilities do not lie at the federal level at all – and when they do, they are often delegated to the states and then to the municipalities for implementation.

The joint claim now formulated by the Minister Presidents is ambitious: they have listed over 200 points, in cooperation with the federal government, with which they want to make the state more capable of acting and at the same time relieve businesses and citizens. This was reported by the deputy chairman of the Conference of Minister Presidents (MPK), Michael Kretschmer, in Berlin in the evening. Agreement was postponed for the time being on 58 points, according to the Saxon Minister President, primarily in building and planning law. Nevertheless, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) considers what has now been decided to be "a really big step". And that could be true, at least in part – much of it is intended to quickly and noticeably make life easier for citizens.

IT Landscape: States also in favor of constitutional amendment

For example, citizens over 70 will generally no longer need new identity cards, said the chairman of the MPK, Alexander Schweitzer (SPD). This would save costs and relieve administration and citizens who previously had to go to the authorities every 10 years. However, this is not a state responsibility, but would only require a change in the wording of the federal Identity Card Act. And secondly, this is already provided for in European law as an option – so it is not an entirely new idea. What this means for the electronic ID functions, however, the negotiators have not further addressed in their papers. In any case, many of the other planned modernization projects are significantly more complicated.

The changes in the IT landscape of the federal government and the states provided for in the MPK resolution are to be massive. Even for a convinced federalist like him, says MPK Chairman Schweitzer, there are many reasons for uniformity in IT systems. Specifically, this is to be achieved with "D-Stack", the repository for standard applications and services for administrations in the federal government, states, and municipalities. In the MPK resolution, this is linked to a priority for open-source software and digitally sovereign solutions. However, the rules for what goes into the "D-Stack" are not expected to be finalized until the end of 2026. The Minister Presidents also advocate, together with the federal government, for a timely amendment of Article 91c of the Basic Law. This would give the federal government the opportunity to regulate "digital processes and standards" and to establish and operate IT systems. Currently, depending on the specific task, this is usually the responsibility of the individual federal states.

WhatsApp message to the authorities should suffice

The intention to replace the written form, which legally usually means a letter, with electronic forms in the general administrative procedure laws by the end of 2026 is much more concrete. At least when it is not absolutely necessary. Thus, in the future, emails or other text-based communication such as WhatsApp and Signal messages will be legally binding in "general business dealings with authorities".

If, as intended, a fiction of approval is to apply in administrative procedures as soon as a fully submitted application is not decided otherwise within a certain period. Then this could mean a revolution for the daily work of state and municipal administrations. Another administrative revolution would also occur if the federal government and the states were not only to provide "digitally sovereign alternatives (Sovereign Workplace)" as an alternative to proprietary environments by the end of March 2027, but also to make their mandatory use. However, the Minister Presidents are not yet daring to make an offensive departure from Microsoft products.

Data Protection Supervision: MPK Paper Remains Vague

Furthermore, it has been apparent for months that data protection supervision is to be more strongly centralized. Since this has so far been a domain of the states, their position had been awaited with some anticipation. However, there is little to be seen in the MPK paper of a clear commitment that the responsibility for supervising "businesses" should be transferred to the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection. This is as the coalition agreement at the federal level formulated, for example. Although centralized and uniform legal interpretations and one-stop shops are to be created, it is not written anywhere that this must be with the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection. It is therefore also possible that responsibilities for certain sectors will be assigned to individual bodies, a proposal that has also been circulating for several years.

Further need for consultation after intensive discussions

Nevertheless, a start seems to have been made on modernizing federal structures. "Where federal, state, and municipal governments act together, real improvements arise for citizens, for companies, and for our society as a whole," says Hansjörg Durz, CDU politician and chairman of the Bundestag Committee on Digital Affairs and State Modernization. Shortly before Christmas, the committee will therefore consult state representatives in the Bundestag on December 17 about the next steps. And there will have to be many, because the federal modernization agenda still contains mandates for review in many areas where concrete agreements on solutions should actually be in place. However, the pressure on the actors has noticeably increased recently, especially the financial situation of many of the good 10,000 municipalities, means that costs are now becoming more of a focus. And much remained open at the Conference of Minister Presidents on Thursday, particularly regarding the reorganization of finances between the federal government, states, and municipalities. The need for discussion among those involved is therefore likely to increase further in the coming months.

(mho)

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This article was originally published in German. It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.