Empty former capital? The seat of presidency in Bonn is rising once more | EUROtoday

EIt was March 10, 1994, when the parliamentarians of the Bundestag handed the Berlin/Bonn Act with a big majority. This regulated the main points of a “fair division of labor”, as it’s said in a number of locations within the legislation, between the federal capital Berlin and the federal metropolis of Bonn.

Even 30 years later nothing has modified. While the Bundestag and the Chancellery have lengthy since turn out to be an integral a part of Berlin, six of the 15 ministries nonetheless have their major headquarters on the Rhine, not on the Spree.

Although many extra new jobs have been created in Berlin in recent times, that doesn’t imply that the federal government buildings in Bonn will quickly be empty. Ministries there are even rebuilding their workforce. There are at the moment 6994 jobs in Bonn. That's nearly 500 greater than in 2017.

This emerges from the present division price report, which is distributed each two years by the Federal Ministry of Finance to the Budget Committee of the Bundestag and is out there to WELT. The 122-page doc offers with the prices that come up from the division of official and official headquarters between Berlin and Bonn.

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The distribution of staff throughout the 2 areas performs an necessary function. Ultimately, this ensures a whole lot of journey exercise. Last yr, 11,202 enterprise journeys had been counted between Berlin and Bonn. That's an excellent 8,000 greater than within the Corona yr 2021. Total expenditure elevated to five.2 million euros, after 1.5 million euros two years earlier.

“Overall, there has been a significant increase in business trips and the associated costs,” the report says. Almost all departments justified this by lifting the corona-related restrictions on enterprise journeys.

Despite the numerous enhance, the variety of enterprise journeys remains to be effectively under pre-Corona ranges. As in each firm, fewer conferences within the ministries are held in particular person and extra are held by way of video convention. In 2019 there have been nearly 20,000 enterprise journeys between the 2 cities with a complete price of 6.7 million euros.

It is attention-grabbing to have a look at the common prices per enterprise journey. These have elevated considerably in comparison with 2019: from 340 euros to 460 euros. This is attributed to the truth that individuals journey extra usually by prepare. “Which leads to overnight stays on site because you can’t usually travel there and back by train within a day,” the division price report says.

The extra resort prices drive up journey prices. This is justified elsewhere with local weather safety: “With a view to reducing CO₂ emissions, the priority regulation for rail use over air travel applies when business trips are absolutely necessary,” the authors write concerning the necessities.

In whole, the distribution of presidency work between two cities price the state 9.1 million euros final yr. That's round 5.9 million euros greater than within the pandemic yr 2021, however the identical as in 2019. The largest merchandise subsequent to the one for enterprise journeys was that for “communication, software and maintenance” final yr.

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The report emphasizes the next assertion: The prices of 9.1 million euros are “still below the calculations of the Federal Audit Office from 2002, according to which division-related costs of around 10 million euros arise annually.”

The truth that folks journey much less will not be solely resulting from new technical prospects in on a regular basis work, but in addition as a result of the distribution of staff between Berlin and Bonn has shifted considerably in the direction of the east.

In 2000, of the overall 17,200 positions on the ministries, 61 % had been in Bonn and solely 39 % in Berlin. The ratio was already balanced in 2008. 73 % of the positions are actually in Berlin, solely 27 % are in Bonn.

Expressed in absolute numbers: Of the 25,709 ministry positions final yr, 18,715 had been in Berlin and, as already talked about, 6,995 in Bonn. The present figures present that the division “continued to develop slightly in favor of the official headquarters in Berlin,” in line with the report.

For years, the ministry on the Rhine with the most individuals has been the Federal Ministry of Defense. There are at the moment 1,442 positions there, adopted by these for schooling and analysis (863). Both nonetheless have their headquarters in Bonn. In third place on the Bonn record is the Ministry of Digital and Transport with 794 positions. However, the primary workplace of this division is Berlin.

In Berlin, the Foreign Office (2868) leads forward of the Economics and Digital Ministry (2162), in addition to the Finance Ministry (2098) and the Interior Ministry (1792). All have their headquarters within the federal capital. The Ministry of Defense, which is definitely situated in Bonn, is available in fifth place on the Berlin record with 1,624 positions.

There is just one ministry that’s not formally represented by any staff in Bonn: the Federal Ministry of Justice.