Farewell to the unitary federal State? Transformations and tendencies of the German federal system

For four decades, (Western) Germany enjoyed a period of relative tranquillity; the sudden fall of the Berlin wall opened the road towards unexpected re-unification. In addition the acceleration in the European integration process with the Maastricht Treaty raised important questions about the future of this very process and Germany’s role in it The article discusses the changes in the German federal system focusing on the tensions between stability and uniformity versus (more) flexibility and differentiation; the requests for more competitive elements and the pivotal role of the Federal Council in the debate are analysed in the perspective of a reform of the German federal system.