Federal Republic of Germani Public Administration

7/31/2019 Federal Republic of Germani Public Administration

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/federal-republic-of-germani-public-administration 1/20

All papers, statistics and materials contained in the Country Profiles express entirely the opinion of the mentioned authors.They should not, unless otherwise mentioned, be attributed to the Secretariat of the United Nations.

The designations employed and the presentation of material on maps in the Country Profiles do not imply the expressionof any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country,territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

FFEEDDEEDDEER R AALL R R EEPPUUBBLLIICC OOFF

GGEER R MMAANNYY PPuubblliicc AAddmmiinniissttrraattiioonn

CCoouunnttrryy PPrroof f iillee

Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM)

Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)

United Nations

February 2006



1

Table of Contents

Table of Contents........................................................................................... 1 Country ........................................................................................................ 2 1. General Information ................................................................................... 4

1.1 People.................................................................................................. 4 1.2 Economy .............................................................................................. 4 1.3 Public Spending ..................................................................................... 5 1.4 Public Sector Employment and Wages....................................................... 5

2. Legal Structure .......................................................................................... 6 2.1 Legislative Branch.................................................................................. 6 2.2 Executive Branch ................................................................................... 7 2.3 Judiciary Branch .................................................................................... 8 2.4 Local Government.................................................................................. 9

3. The State and Civil Society .........................................................................10 3.1 Ombudsperson .....................................................................................10

3.2 Civil Society .........................................................................................10

4. Civil Service .............................................................................................12 4.1 Legal basis...........................................................................................12 4.2 Recruitment.........................................................................................12 4.3 Promotion............................................................................................13 4.4 Remuneration ......................................................................................13 4.5 Training...............................................................................................14 4.6 Gender................................................................................................14 4.7 Reunification of Western and Eastern civil services ....................................14

5. Ethics and Civil Service ..............................................................................16 5.1 Corruption ...........................................................................................16 5.2 Ethics..................................................................................................16

6. e-Government ..........................................................................................17 6.1 e-Government Readiness .......................................................................17 6.2 e-Participation......................................................................................18

7. Links .......................................................................................................19 7.1 National sites .......................................................................................19 7.2 Miscellaneous sites................................................................................19



2

CountryClick here for detailed map

Source: The World Factbook – Germany

Government type federal republic

Independence

18 January 1871 (German Empireunification) unification of WestGermany and East Germany tookplace 3 October 1990; all fourpowers formally relinquished rights15 March 1991

Constitution

23 May 1949, known as Basic Law;became constitution of the unitedGerman people 3 October 1990

Legal system

civil law system with indigenousconcepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the FederalConstitutional Court; has notaccepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Administrative divisions

13 states (Laender, singular - Land)and 3 free states


Germany remains a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defenseorganizations. Two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century andleft the country occupied by the Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the SovietUnion in 1945. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in1949: the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern GermanDemocratic Republic (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Westerneconomic and security organizations, the European Commission (EC), which becamethe European Union (EU), and NATO, while the Communist GDR was on the front line

of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold Warallowed for German unification in 1990. Since then, Germany has expendedconsiderable funds to bring Eastern productivity and wages up to Western standards.In January 1999, Germany and other EU countries introduced a common Europeanexchange currency, the euro.


GGeer r mmaanny

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/index.html



http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/flags/gm-flag.html



http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/index.html


http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/english/htmain.htm



3

The Federal Republic of Germany is located in the heart of Europe. The mostdensely-populated country in Europe, Germany is bordered by nine neighbouringstates since the unification of the two German states in 1990. The Federal Republicof Germany covers an area of 357,022 square kilometres. The longest distance fromnorth to south is 876 kilometers, and from west to east, 640 kilometers. The country

boasts a great cultural and special region-specific diversity.

Some 82.6 million people live in Germany and 7.3 million of these citizens do nothave their origins in Germany. This corresponds to 8.9 percent of the totalpopulation. Ranking third in terms of total economic output, Germany is one of theworld’s leading economic nations. In terms of exports, Germany takes first placeworldwide. The country continues to offer a superbly developed infrastructure andwell-qualified work force. In addition, education, science and research are structuredin line with the federal nature of the Federal Republic of Germany. As a result,central government is only able to decide on and implement goals and measures inconjunction with the federal states.

The social partnership between trade unions and employers ensures a high degree of

social harmony. Reforms to the social security system and structural reforms to thelabor market are intended to reduce ancillary labor costs and enhance economicgrowth, which, in comparison with other EU countries, is on a low level.

Source: Federal Foreign Office – Fact about Germany: civiland voluntary commitment (2001) - edited



4

11.. GGeenneerraall IInnf f oorrmmaattiioonn

1.1 People Germany France UK 1

Population a

Total estimated population (,000), 2003 82,476 60,144 59,251

Female estimated population (,000), 2003 42,177 30,845 30,388

Male estimated population (,000), 2003 40,299 29,299 28,863

Sex ratio (males per 100 females), 2003 96 95 95

Average annual rate of change of pop. (%), 2000-2005 0.07 0.47 0.31

Youth and Elderly Population b

Total population under age 15 (%), 2003 15 19 18

Female population aged 60+ (%), 2003 27 23 23

Male population aged 60+ (%), 2003 21 18 19

Human Settlements c

Urban population (%), 2001 88 76 90

Rural population (%), 2001 12 24 10

Urban average annual rate of change in pop. (%), ‘00-‘05 0.17 0.58 0.25

Rural average annual rate of change in pop/ (%), ‘00-‘05 -1.55 -0.34 -0.5

Education d

Total school life expectancy, 2000-2001 15.3i 15.4 16.3 1

Female school life expectancy, 2000-2001 15.1i 15.7 16.7 1

Male school life expectancy, 2000-2001 15.4i 15.1 15.8 1

Female estimated adult (15+) illiteracy rate (%), 2000 .. .. .. 2

Male estimated adult (15+) illiteracy rate (%), 2000 .. .. .. 2

Employment e

Unemployment rate (15+) (%), 2000 7.9ii 8.8 iii 5.5 iv 1

Female adult (+15) economic activity rate (%), 2001 49 48 b 53 a 2

Male adult (+15) economic activity rate (%), 2001 66 62 b 71 a 2

Notes:i1998/1999,

iiMonths of April,

iiiMonth of March and

ivMonth of March-May,

aAge 16+ years,

B2000.

1.2 Economy Germany France UK 2

GDP a

GDP total (millions US$), 2002 1,976,240 1,409,604 i 1,552,437

GDP per capita (US$), 2002 23,956 23,714 26,376

PPP GDP total (millions int. US$), 2002 2,171,624 1,554,483 1,510,997

PPP GDP per capita(int. US$), 2002 26,324 26,151 25,672

Sectors b

Value added in agriculture (% of GDP), 2003 1.1ii 2.7 1.0

Value added in industry (% of GDP), 2003 29.4ii 24.5 26.6

Value added in services (% of GDP), 2003 69.4ii 72.8 72.4

Miscellaneous c

GDP implicit price deflator (annual % growth), 2004 1.1 1.2 3.2

Private consumption (% of GDP), 2003 58.6ii 55.6 iii 65.6

Government consumption (% of GDP), 2003 19.3 ii 24.3 21.1

Notes: i Data include the French overseas departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion. ii 2003,iii1994.

1 United Nations Statistics Division: a Statistics Division and Population Division of the UN Secretariat; b Statistics Division and Population Division of the UNSecretariat; c Population Division of the UN Secretariat; d1 UNESCO ; d2 UNESCO; e1 ILO; e2 ILO/OECD 2 World Bank - Data and Statistics:a Quick Reference Tables; b Data Profile Tables ; c Country at a Glance



5

1.3 Public Spending Germany France UK

Public expenditures 3

Education (% of GNP), 1985-1987 .. 5.5 4.8 a

Education (% of GNP), 1995-1997 4.8i 6 i 5.3i a

Health (% of GDP), 1990 5.9 6.7 5.1

Health (% of GDP), 1998 7.9ii 7.3 ii 5.8ii

Military (% of GDP), 1990 2.8 iii 3.5 3.9 b

Military (% of GDP), 2000 1.5 2.6 2.5 b

Total debt service (% of GDP), 1990 .. .. ..

Total debt service (% of GDP), 2000 .. .. ..

Notes: i.Data may not be strictly comparable with those for earlier years as a result of methodological changes, ii Data refer to 1999, iii

Data refer to the Federal Republic of Germany before reunification.

1.4 Public Sector Employment and Wages

Data from the latest year available Germany

1991-1995Germany

1996-2000

EuropeanUnion

Average4 1996-2000

High incomeOECD

average4 1996-2000

High incomegroup

average4 1996-2000

Employment

(,000) 828 ..Civilian Central Government5 (% pop.) 1.0 .. 4.1 .. 2.8

(,000) 4,193 ..Sub-national Government5

(% pop.) 5.1 .. 4.1 .. 2.8

(,000) .. ..Education employees

(% pop.) .. .. 1.2 .. 1.3

(,000) .. ..Health employees

(% pop.) .. .. 1.2 .. 1.1

(,000) .. ..Police

(% pop.) .. .. .. .. ..

(,000) 340 231Armed forces

(% pop.) 0.4 0.3 0.5 .. 0.5

(,000) .. ..SOE Employees

(% pop.) .. .. .. .. ..

(,000) .. ..Total Public Employment

(% pop.) .. .. .. .. ..

Total Central gov't wage bill (% of GDP) 1.0 .. 3.6 .. 4.2

Total Central gov’t wage bill (% of exp) 7.9 7.6 12.8 .. 16.4

Average gov't wage (,000 LCU) 41 ..

Real ave. gov’t wage ('97 price) (,000 LCU) 42 ..

Average gov’t wage to per capita GDP ratio 0.9 .. .. .. ..

Source: World Bank - Public Sector Employment and Wages

3 UNDP - Human Development Report 2002

a Data refer to total public expenditure on education, including current and capital expenditures.b As a result of a number of limitations in the data, comparisons of military expenditure data over time and acrosscountries should be made with caution. For detailed notes on the data see SIPRI (2001). 4 Averages for regions and sub regions are only generated if data is available for at least 35% of the countries in thatregion or sub region. 5

Excluding education, health and police – if available (view Country Sources for further explanations).

http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/index.cfm

http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/civilservice/development.htm

http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/civilservice/development.htm

http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/index.cfm



6

22.. LLeeggaall SSttrruuccttuurree

There are the five "constitutional bodies", i.e. the Bundestag and Bundesrat withresponsibility for legislation (constituting the legislative branch of government), theFederal Constitutional Court with responsibility for supreme court decisions(constituting the judicial branch of government), and finally the Federal Presidentand the Federal Cabinet with responsibility for executive tasks (constituting the

executive branch of government).

The Basic Law (= Grundgesetz – GG) dated 23 May 1949, provides the governsstructure of the state and of the public administration in Germany in accordance withthe following principles: (i) Federal state: The Länder are members of the Federationretaining sovereign state power of their own; (ii) Self-government for localauthorities: The local authorities are guaranteed a high degree of administrativeautonomy in local matters; and (iii) Separation of powers: the legislative, executive(government and administration) and the judiciary are each allocated to separateinstitutions.

Source: the federal government of Germany (2005) & UN International:Profiles of national public administration: Germany (2001) (edited)

2.1 Legislative Branch

bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (613 seats; elected by

popular vote under a system combining direct and proportional representation; a party must win 5% of

the national vote or three direct mandates to gain representation; members serve four-year terms) and

the Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 votes; state governments are directly represented by votes; each

has 3 to 6 votes depending on population and are required to vote as a block)6

Women in parliament : lower house 195 out of 614 seats (31.8%) and 13 out of 69 (18.8%)7

The legislative branch consist of the Bundestag andBundesrat. The Members of the Bundestag are elected ingeneral, direct, free, equal and secret elections for a period of

four years (electoral term) (Arts. 38, 39 of the Basic Law);For the elected candidates, the Bundestag constitutes amandate to represent the interests of the people as a wholeand thus, through the system of representative democracyenshrined in the Basic Law, to realize the rule of the people bythe people. They carry out this mandate by appointing theGovernment and the members of the other constitutionalorgans as well as scrutinizing the work of the executive,passing laws, to approving the budget.

The Bundestag is composed of at least 598 Members, of whom 299 are elected in the constituencies and a further 299via lists of candidates drawn up by the political parties in each

Land or federal state. Constituency boundaries, however, maybe changed by law on the basis of proposals by a so-calledboundaries commission in order to adapt constituencies todemographic changes.

Source: Deutscher Bundestag (2005)

6 Source of fact boxes if nothing else stated: The World Factbook – Germany 7 Inter-Parliamentary Union - Women in National Parliaments 8 Source of fact boxes if nothing else stated: The World Factbook – Germany

elections: Federal

Assembly - last held 18

September 2005 (next

to be held September

2009); note - there areno elections for the

Bundesrat; composition

is determined by the

composition of the

state-level

governments; the

composition of the

Bundesrat has the

potential to change any

time one of the 16

states holds an election

election results: Federal

Assembly - seats byparty - CDU/CSU 225,

SPD 222, FDP 61, Left

54, Greens 51; Federal

Council - current

composition – NA. 8



7

The Bundesrat has a total of 69 full members and the same number of votes.Accordingly, thirty-five votes are needed for an absolute majority, generally neededto take a decision, and forty-six for the two-thirds majority occasionally required.The number of votes that a state has in the Bundesrat are weighted as a function of each state's population, although this is not the only factor. The votes of each statemust be cast en bloc, as stated in the Basic Law.

Source: Bundesrat (2005) – (edited)

2.2 Executive Branch

cabinet: Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) appointed by the president on the recommendation

of the chancellor

elections: president elected for a five-year term by a Federal Convention including all members of the

Federal Assembly and an equal number of delegates elected by the state parliaments; election last held 23

May 2004 (next to be held 23 May 2009); chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal

Assembly for a four-year term; election last held 22 November 2005 (next to be held November 2009)

election results: Horst KOEHLER elected president; received 604 votes of the Federal Convention against

589 for Gesine SCHWAN; Angela MERKEL elected chancellor; vote by Federal Assembly 397 to 202 with

12 abstentions

The provisions of the Basic Law form the framework for the

exercise of government powers, including those of executivegovernment. The executive government, i.e. the Cabinet,consists of the Chancellor and the Federal Ministers (Article62, Basic Law). The status of the head of government as akey political figure has been stressed. In contrast to theFederal Ministers, he is elected by the majority of theBundestag and, as such, has a higher level of politicalauthority than anyone else in the Cabinet.

The Chancellor is elected by the Bundestag in accordance with Article 63. TheFederal President is allowed to propose a candidate only in the first round of voting.If there is no absolute majority in the first round of voting the Bundestag has

fourteen days time in which it can elect a Chancellor in as many rounds of voting asdesired. Here again an absolute majority is needed to win (Article 63, 3, Basic Law).If this second phase fails to produce the desired result the parliament must votewithout delay in a third phase. If the candidate for Chancellor receives only a relativemajority the President is required to step in. He must either appoint the candidatefor Chancellor who received the largest number of votes or he must dissolve theBundestag (Article 63, 4, Basic Law).

Executive power is personified by the Chancellor. Under Article 64 of the Basic Lawthe formation of a Cabinet is the prerogative of the Chancellor, who proposes thecandidates to the Federal President. The Chancellor also appoints a DeputyChancellor (Article 69, Basic Law). This function is assumed by a Federal Minister,usually the Minister for Foreign Affairs. In case of an attack on the country theChancellor has command of the armed forces (Article 115h, Basic Law).

Source: Federal Government of Germany – Functions and constitutional basis - (2006)

Fact box:

chief of state: PresidentHorst KOEHLER (since 1

July 2004)

head of government:

Chancellor Angela

MERKEL (since 22

November 2005)



8

2.3 Judiciary Branch

Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag

and half by the Bundesrat)

The organization of the judiciary in Germany, as stated in the Basic Law is that: (i)

judicial power is vested in the judges. It is exercised by the Federal Constitutional

Court, the federal courts provided for in the Basic Law, and the courts of the Länder

(regional administrations); and (ii) as federal judges (and federal prosecutors) are

generally only employed in the supreme federal courts, the portion of judges (and

prosecutors) in the federal services is small, amounting to just below 5%. The other

public prosecutors and judges of the ordinary jurisdiction (civil and criminal justice,

voluntary jurisdiction), the jurisdiction of labour courts, social courts, administrative

courts, and tax courts are servants of the Länder forming the Federal Republic of

Germany.

The Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, BverfG) consists of twopanels, each with eight judges, half of whom are elected by the Bundestag, and half by the Bundesrat. Each judge serves for 12 years and may not be reelected. The

Federal Constitutional Court guards over adherence to the Basic Law. It is thesupreme organ of constitutional jurisdiction, politically independent from all otherconstitutional organs. It is activated only on application. Decisions by the BverfG arenon-appealable and binding for all other organs of state.

The Federal Constitutional Court also rules on disputes between central governmentand the states or between individual federal institutions. It checks whether federaland state laws can be reconciled with the Basic Law. If it declares a law to be nulland void, the latter may no longer be applied. In addition, the Federal ConstitutionalCourt is empowered to determine whether a particular party is a threat to the freeand democratic constitutional order and is thus unconstitutional.

Ordinary courts are responsible for criminal matters, civil matters (such as disputes

arising from contracts under private law, e.g., sale or rental agreements),matrimonial or family proceedings and non-contentious legal proceedings, forinstance, guardianship matters. There are four levels: the local court (Amtsgericht),the regional court (Landgericht), the higher regional court (Oberlandesgericht) andthe Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof). In civil proceedings, either thelocal or the regional court can be court of first resort. Appeals may be lodged with upto two higher courts.

In addition, there are Labor courts disputes under private law arising fromemployment contracts and between management and labor force), Administrativecourts (jurisdiction of the administrative courts extends to offer legal protectionagainst all administrative acts and other administrative proceedings), and social and

financial courts (social courts rule on disputes from all areas of social security).

Source: Federal Foreign Office – Fact about Germany: thelegal system (2005) & Dieter Haschke, local governmentadministration in Germany (1998) – edited



9

2.4 Local Government

Constitutional foundations of local autonomy in the Federal Republic of Germany isguaranteed in Article 28 of the Basic Law and in the corresponding provisions of theLand constitutions. According to this Article the constitutional order of the Ländermust conform to the principles of the republican, democratic and social stategoverned by the rule of law. In the Länder, districts and municipalities the people

must have a parliament, according to Article 28 (1) of the Basic Law, elected bygeneral, direct, free, equal and secret ballots. Thus, the requirements of Federalelections are also constitutionally required for the Länder and local authorities. Article28 (2) of the Basic Law guarantees the municipalities local autonomy by grantingthem the right to manage all their own affairs.

The division of state powers between the Federation and the Länder follows thefundamental rule that the exercise of state powers and the performance of statefunctions is a matter for the Länder insofar as the Basic Law does not prescribe orpermit otherwise (Article 30 GG). Accordingly, the main force of the legislative lieswith the Federation, and the focus of the administration with the Länder. The Länderinfluence the legislation and administration of the Federation, as well as mattersconcerned with the European Union, through the Federal Council (Bundesrat).

The structure of the Administration consist of three main independent levels can bedistinguished as a basic layout in the structure of the administration: (i) theadministration of the Federation; (ii) the administration of the Länder (16 Länder);and (iii) the administration of the local authorities (439 districts and non-countymunicipalities and 14,308 local authorities). In principle, each of these administrativeareas has its defined group of functions. There is no hierarchical pyramid of agenciesfrom local authority through the respective Land to the Federation. Neither theFederation nor the Länder have a fully developed general administrative apparatus of authorities reaching down to the local level.

Source: UN International: Profiles of national public

administration: Germany (2001)

The following sovereign rights largely belong to the responsibility of the municipalityand they cannot be infringed by the Federation or the Länder within the limits of higher laws: (i) personnel sovereignty (this grants the municipalities the right toselect, engage, promote and dismiss staff); (ii) organisational sovereignty (thisencompasses the right for the municipalities to organise the administrationthemselves); (iii) planning sovereignty (this grants the municipalities the power toorganise and shape municipality territory under their own responsibility by drawingup urban development plans); (iv) legislative sovereignty (this entails the right topass municipality bylaws); (v) financial sovereignty (this entitles the municipalities tobe responsible for managing their income and expenditure); (vi) tax sovereignty(this grants the municipalities the right to raise taxes (provided that this right has

not been revoked by a higher law).

Source: Dieter Haschke, local government administration in Germany (1998)



10

33.. TThhee SSttaattee aanndd CCiivviill SSoocciieettyy

3.1 Ombudsperson

Decisions taken by public administration can be legally disputed before

administrative courts. The administrative courts system is an independent three-tiersystem of first instance courts, appeal courts (as Land courts) and one specializedSupreme Court (Federal Administrative Court). The administrative courts system ishighly developed, meaning that several hundred thousand individual cases arebrought up each year before administrative courts. Administrative judges have thepower to recall administrative decisions and are in a position to order publicauthorities to take lawful actions. The administrative courts system is by far the mostimportant means to dispute administrative actions in Germany, but there is also insome Länder an ombudsman institution or their commissioners, like the dataprotection commissioners.

Source: Source: UN International: Profiles of national publicadministration: Germany (2001)

3.2 Civil Society

In Germany, there is a long tradition of public welfare voluntary work. The work isvery varied and is to be found in all areas of social, societal and political life, and hasalways served to strengthen ties within society. Around 34 percent of Germansperform honorary roles, voluntarily undertaking tasks for the community for whichthey receive no remuneration. In addition, outside family life and their occupations,the same number of citizens is active in associations, clubs, projects, initiatives andgroups, without performing specific functions under the aegis of these organizations.

The organizations with the longest tradition of voluntary social work are the

foundations. As opposed to clubs, these have a material basis, their purpose isexpressed in the “founder’s wish”, as it is referred to, and their legal position isdetermined by the German Civil Code and the laws of the respective federal state.Since the mid-1990s, a new type of foundation, the civil foundation, has beenemerging, of which there are currently some 35. In this case a voluntary syndicatecreates a foundation capital, and the voluntary work performed is normally restrictedto a specific geographical area and social purpose.

Donations to charitable and welfare causes are commitments to the community. TheGerman Donation Institute estimates that € 5 billion is donated annually, a sumwhich has remained steady since 1990. Around 25 percent of donations arechanneled into social causes, about 15 percent awarded to religious communities,disaster relief and environmental organizations.

Source: Federal Foreign Office – Fact about Germany: civiland voluntary commitment (2001)

Non-governmental organisations or NGOs that provide social and health services arechurches, non-profit agencies and to a lesser extent commercial service-providers.They are highly active in the following fields: (i) Youth welfare (kindergarten,children’s and young people’s homes, institutions for disabled children and youngpeople and others). The Youth Welfare Act affords priority to the institutions of the



11

independent agencies. For example 64% of kindergartens were operated byindependent child and youth welfare agencies in 1994 in the old Federal territory;and (ii) Hospitals (hospitals operated by non-profit organizations or commercialenterprises). Non-public institutions also exist in the field of education (privateschools and higher education institutions), but public schools and public universitiesplay an more dominate role in this regard.

All disputes involving human rights issues can be brought up directly to the Federal

Constitutional Court. However, some NGOs are active with respect to the situationand the rights of immigrants (asylum seekers).

Source: UN International: Profiles of national public administration: Germany (2001)



12

44.. CCiivviill SSeerrvviiccee

Germany’s administrative system is to a large extent framed by the country’sconstitutional principles. These are - as far as the public sector is concerned -federalism which defines the states (“Länder”) as members of the Federation yetretaining a sovereign state power of their own and local self-government which

mainly operates on two levels, that of the local authorities and of the counties.

Due to these prevailing constitutional principles, German public administration isconsiderably varied and complex. This framework has given rise to a whole variety of subnational peculiarities which diverge more or less in their administrative cultures.Nevertheless, the core elements of the German civil service are relatively uniform forthe public servants at all levels of government.

Source: Civil Service in Germany: Characteristics of Public Employment andModernization of Public Personnel Management, paper presented at meetingModernization of State and Administration in Europe: A France-GermanComparison (2004)

4.1 Legal basis

The employment of civil servants is governed by legislation, which include the rightto determine the legal status of all public servants according to article 75, paragraph1, Basic Law, as part of general legislation (“Rahmengesetzgebung des Bundes”) andto make decisions relating to pay and pensions for civil servants according to article74a, paragraph 1, Basic Law, as part of concurrent legislation (“konkurrierendeGesetzgebung”).

Employment in the public service is based on a contract of employment underprivate law. Most of these conditions are set out in collective agreements negotiatedbetween the public employers (Federation/Länder/local authorities) and the

responsible trade unions. In Germany, three types of employment exist in theperformance of public tasks: (i) statutory civil servants (Beamte), judges andsoldiers; (ii) contract staff employed under private law (Angestellte); and (iii) wageearners (Arbeiter).

Source: UN International: Profiles of national public administration: Germany & Civil service in Germany: Characteristicsof Public Employment and Modernization of Public Personnel Management, paper presented at meeting Modernization of State and Administration in Europe: A France-German Comparison (2004) - edited

4.2 Recruitment

The civil servants law provides for a career system with four career categories(administrative, executive, clerical and sub-clerical service). Recruitment for these

careers is based on career provisions, which include the conditions as regardseducation and training for the individual careers. Employment of civil servants is inprinciple a life time tenure. There is no central unit responsible for recruiting civilservants or public employees. Each ministry at the federal level, each state, andeach local authority has the right to recruit its staff members itself.

Applicants are generally appointed on the basis of their individual knowledge andabilities. Suitability for the specific job and not for a career path is decisive.Employment is based on unlimited or time limited contracts. Suitable candidates for



13

vacant posts are selected through competition. There is no central unit beingresponsible for recruiting civil servants or public employees. Each ministry at thefederal level, each state, and each local authority has the right to recruit its staff members itself.


4.3 PromotionThe German career system for civil servants is divided into four standard careerstructures which are the administrative class (“höherer Dienst”), the executive class(“gehobener Dienst”), the clerical class (“mittlerer Dienst”) and the sub-clerical-class(“einfacher Dienst”).

Each career class consists of five grades, each with a rising pay scale within the”Salary Regulation A” (White and Löffler 1998:11 and Röber 1996:173). The maincharacteristic of the ”Salary Regulation A” is increments on the basis of a seniorityallowance. In contrast to the salary system of ”Regulation A”, top positions in thecivil service - which are related to the leading grades in the administrative class - areremunerated according to a special ”Salary Regulation B” which does not contain any

increments for seniority, i.e. income is irrespective of the officer’s age or length of service. In keeping with the basic principles of a merit-based career system,entrance for civil servants to the civil service classes is strictly linked to certainformal qualification requirements.

Source: Civil Service in Germany: Characteristics of Public Employment and Modernization of PublicPersonnel Management, paper presented at meeting Modernization of State and Administration inEurope: A France-German Comparison (2004)

Some officials in the hierarchy are considered political civil servants. Political civilservants that hold an office must be permanently in agreement with the fundamentalpolitical aims of the government, and can be placed in temporary retirement at anytime without stating reasons.

There are a specific, relatively small, number of political civil servants. Only 413 of the 130,000 federal civil servants are political. Political civil servants in the Federaladministration are, for instance, Permanent State Secretaries, Under-Secretaries of State in the ministries, senior civil servants in the Foreign Office and in the securityservices. The system of control is attached to the audit courts system. There is aFederal audit court and each Land does have its own audit courts.

Source:: UN International: Profiles of national public administration: Germany(2001) & Civil Service in Germany: Characteristics of Public Employment andModernization of Public Personnel Management, paper presented at meetingModernization of State and Administration in Europe: A France-GermanComparison (2004)

4.4 Remuneration

The legislative competence for the public service lies primarily with the Federation.Public service employment is largely the same in the Federation, in all Länder andlocal authorities. The Federation has legislative competence in respect of generalemployment conditions, remuneration and pensions for all civil servants in Germany.For contract employees, the Federal Employees’ Collective Agreement applies toemployees in Federal, Länder and local authorities.



14

Employees in the public service are obligated by law to be insured in the statutorysocial insurance. Employees and employers contribute equally to finance socialinsurance in accordance with the applicable contribution, which is a specifiedpercentage of the gross income.

Source: UN International: Profiles of national public administration: Germany(2001)

4.5 Training

The German civil servants’ professional profile is largely shaped by the existingsystem of professional education and recruitment. There is no special education ortraining for the administrative class. This also applies to the training of the”executive class”, which is guided by each state (“Land”) which have their owncolleges of public administration.

The highly decentralised structure of the German federal system is also reflected bythe “Länder’s” efforts at forming their own administrative elite. They organise, inaddition to the training for leading civil servants offered by the Federal Academy of Public Administration (“Bundesakademie für öffentliche Verwaltung”), their owntraining programmes lasting between 14 and 15 months, e.g. in Bavaria since 1968

or in Baden-Württemberg since 1986.

Contrary to the ”old” German “Länder”, the transformed administration in EastGermany was largely lacking law-trained and public service-experienced personnel.Due to the fact that a special administrative education for public employees had, forideological reasons, been rejected in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR)public employees, who had been taken over from ”old” GDR-authorities, were usuallyholding technical, economic or other ”nonadministrative” degrees. Hence, the newadministrative leaders in East German local authorities stand in marked contrast totheir West German counterparts, the majority of whom are trained in law or holdpublic administration-related degrees. Responding to this ”qualification gap”,immediately after reunification extensive programmes of training and further

qualification have been launched in order to make East German administrative actorsfamiliar with some basic structures of the German law and administrative business.


4.6 Gender

Source:

4.7 Reunification of Western and Eastern civil services

After the German reunification further 1,8 Million public servants coming from EastGerman public institutions joined the civil service. Accordingly, in 1991 there were6,7 Million civil servants, that is 84 public servants per 1.000 inhabitants. Inaddition, the East German “Länder” are employing comparatively more publicpersonnel in social services and in the public health sector than the West German



15

“Länder” do. In West Germany, by contrast, a stronger emphasis is laid oneducation, science and research.

In East German communes, public employment was soaring after reunification. Thisprimarily refers to the fact that the social and cultural facilities of the former GDR,which had been managed by state institutions or national owned enterprises and,were (re)transferred to the communes (”recommunalised”). As a result, East German

municipalities had significantly more public personnel than comparable West Germancommunes. Thus, in 1991, the ”personnel density” at local level in East Germany,which amounted to 42 public servants per 1.000 inhabitants, was the double of thatin West Germany.




16

55.. EEtthhiiccss aanndd CCiivviill SSeerrvviiccee

5.1 Corruption

2003 CPI Score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen bybusiness people and country analysts and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0

(highly corrupt).

Corruption Perceptions Index

2003 CPIScore

SurveysUsed

StandardDeviation

High-LowRange

NumberInst.

90 percentconfidence

range

Rank Country

1 Highly clean 9.7 8 0.3 9.2 - 10.0 4 9.5 - 9.9

16 Germany 7.7 11 1.2 4.9 - 9.2 7 7.1 - 8.2

133 Highly corrupt 1.3 8 0.7 0.3 - 2.2 6 0.9 - 1.7

Source: Transparency International - Corruption Perceptions Index 2003

Surveys Used: Refers to the number of surveys that were used to assess a country's performance. 17 surveys were

used and at least 3 surveys were required for a country to be included in the CPI.Standard Deviation: Indicates differences in the values of the sources. Values below 0.5 indicate agreement, values

between 0.5 and c. 0.9 indicate some agreement, while values equal or larger than 1 indicate disagreement.

High-Low Range: Provides the highest and lowest values of the sources.

Number Institutions: Refers to the number of independent institutions that assessed a country's performance. Since

some institutions provided more than one survey.

90 percent confidence range: Provides a range of possible values of the CPI score. With 5 percent probability the score

is above this range and with another 5 percent it is below.

Crimes committed by civil servants are prosecuted under criminal law beforeordinary courts. Crimes, which fall under criminal prosecution, are, e.g., bribery,misuse of official position and acceptance of undue advantages.


5.2 Ethics

There is no separate code of ethics for civil servants. The general principles, whichgovern the employment relationship of civil servants, are incorporated into thegeneral civil service statutes. These principles are: (i) to exercise their officeimpartially and justly, not seeking their own advantage, in line with the commongood and loyalty; (ii) to serve unreservedly and at any time; (iii) no right to strike;(iv) to advise and obey; (v) employment of civil servants is a life time tenure: (vi)the duty of the employer to take care of its civil servants and their families; and (vii)suitable payment and pension provision according to rank (maintenance principle).

The duty to serve and loyalty are the main duties incumbent upon a civil servant. Inhis/her oath of office, which each civil servant has to take, they swear to “carry outtheir duties conscientiously”. Civil servants are to place their entire working capacityat their employer’s disposal.


http://www.transparency.org/

http://www.transparency.org/surveys/index.html#cpi

http://www.transparency.org/surveys/index.html#cpi

http://www.transparency.org/



17

e-Government

Readiness Index:

The index refers to thegeneric capacity or

aptitude of the public

sector to use ICT for

encapsulating in public

services and deploying

to the public, high

quality information

(explicit knowledge) and

effective communication

tools that support

human development.

The index is comprised

of three sub-indexes:

Web Measure Index,

TelecommunicationsInfrastructure Index and

Human Capital Index.

Web Measure Index:

A scale based on

progressively

sophisticated web

services present.

Coverage and

sophistication of state-

provided e-service and

e-product availability

correspond to anumerical classification.

Telecommunications

Infrastructure Index:

A composite, weighted

average index of six

primary indices, based

on basic infrastructural

indicators that define a

country's ICT infra-

structure capacity.

Primary indicators are:

PC’s, Internet users,online population and

Mobile phones.

Secondary indicators

are TVs and telephone

lines.

00.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

G e r m a n y

F r a n c e U

K

J a p a n

U S A

C a n a d a

e-Government Readiness Index

Source: United Nations – World Public Sector Report 2003

Human Capital Index:

A composite of the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio, with two thirds of the weight

given to adult literacy and one third to the gross enrolment ratio.

66.. ee--GGoovveerrnnmmeenntt

6.1 e-Government Readiness

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

G e r m a n y

F r a n c e U K

J a p a n

U S A

C a n a d a

Web Measure Index Telecom. Infrastructure Index Human Capital Index

Source: United Nations – World Public Sector Re ort 2003



18

e-consultation:

The government website explains e-consultation mechanisms and tools. It offers a choice of public policy topics online for discussion with

real time and archived access to audios and videos of public meetings. The government encourages citizens to participate in discussions.

e-decision making:

The government

indicates that it will

take citizens input

into account in

decision making and

provides actual

feedback on the

outcome of specific

issues.

e-Participation

Index:

Refers to the willing-

ness, on the part of

the government, to

use ICT to provide

high quality informa-

tion (explicit know-

ledge) and effective

communication tools

for the specific

purpose of empower-

ring people for able

participation in

consultations and

decision-making both

in their capacity as

consumers of public

services and as

citizens.

e-information:

The government

websites offer

information on

policies and

programs, budgets,

laws and regulations,

and other briefs of

key public interest.

Tools for dissemi-

nating of information

exist for timely access

and use of public

information, including

web forums, e-mail

lists, newsgroups and

chat rooms.

6.2 e-Participation

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

G e r m a

n y

F r a n

c e U K

J a p

a n

U S A

C a n a

d a

e-information e-decision making e-consultation


0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.70.8

0.9

1

G e r m a n y

F r a n c e U K

J a p a n

U S A

C a n a d a

e-Participation Index




77.. LLiinnkkss

7.1 National sites

Authority TopicWebsite of the Bundespresident http://www.bundespraesident.de/

Deutscher Bundestag http://www.bundestag.de/

Federal Government of Germany http://www.bundesregierung.de/

Federal Foreign Office http://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/

Federal Constitutional Court hppt://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/

Das Deutschland Portal http://www.deutschland.de/

7.2 Miscellaneous sites

Institution Topic

OECD http://www.oecd.org

World Bank http://www.worldbank.org

European Union http://www.europa.eu.int

http://www.deutschland.de/url.php?link_id=27&lang=2

http://www.deutschland.d/

http://www.europa.eu.int/

http://www.europa.eu.int/

http://www.deutschland.d/

http://www.deutschland.de/url.php?link_id=27&lang=2

Documents

Federal Republic of Germani Public Administration