Negotiations to start How Bonn wants to secure its future as the second seat of government
Bonn · A Bonn Treaty is to be signed on the future of Bonn as the second seat of government. The city is creating a head of office to organise talks with the government.
Representatives of the region want to start negotiations with the federal government before the end of this year to secure Bonn’s future as the second seat of government. A draft resolution from the city council states the “Bonn Treaty” is to be signed by the end of 2019. Such a supplementary agreement to the Berlin/Bonn Law is provided for at federal level in the coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD. Horst Seehofer’s (CDU) Interior Ministry is responsible in Berlin.
The city is establishing an office to coordinate the negotiations, which should start in October at the latest. A post as head of office will be created (cost: around 95,000 Euros per year). The office will continue to exist for several years after the next Bundestag elections to monitor the implementation of the contract.
Last week, the main committee unanimously approved the new head of office position, just as other committees have already done. The final decision will be taken at the council meeting on Tuesday. The coordination task will be demanding: according to the city, the head of office is to prepare “topics and projects important for Bonn and the region for the development of Bonn as the second political centre of Germany.” The office is also to prepare meetings of a working group with political representatives from the city, the districts and the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Rhineland-Palatinate. The group has rejected a complete move of the federal ministries in a position paper.
Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan put the demands of councillors that the new head of office should have a legal education into perspective at the main committee meeting. Knowledge of previous discussions with the federal government and experience in communicating with the authorities were more important.
Original text: Andreas Baumann. Translation: kc
