11.12.2023

Annual Lecture/Celebration of the 30th anniversary of the ECRF

The European Centre for Research on Federalism (ECRF) was founded 30 years ago by Prof. Dr. em. Rudolf Hrbek as an interfaculty centre at the University of Tübingen, in which political science, law and geography are involved. On the occasion of this year's anniversary, the ECRF and the Institute of Political Science (IfP) hosted the Annual Lecture and the celebration "30 Years of ECRF".

After the welcome addresseses by the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences and the IfP Director, Prof. Dr. Gabriele Abels, Spokesperson of the Executive Board, looked back on 30 years of ECRF. This was followed by the keynote speech by Prof. Dr. Ursula Münch, Director of the Academy for Political Education (Tutzing) on the topic "When 'Deutschlandtempo' meets federalism. Future perspectives of the German federal state". After an address by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Peter-Christian Müller-Graff, President of the 'Arbeitskreis Europäische Integration e.V.', Dr. Martin Große Hüttmann, Executive Member of the Board, and Christine Probst-Dobler paid tribute to Prof. Hrbek's life's work and in particular his services to federalism and European research. They then presented him with the commemorative publication "European Union as a Process", which is also published by Nomos Publishing House as volume 53 of the ECRF Book Series. Prof. Hrbek gave the closing speech, in which he reviewed his scientific career and his work with the ECRF.

27.11.2023

Presentation of the Yearbook of Federalism 2023 – in cooperation with the State Representation of Baden-Württemberg

On November 22, 2023, the ECRF officially presented the Yearbook of Federalism 2023. This year's presentation was once again held at the State Representation of Baden-Württemberg in Berlin. You can find a recording of the event here.

After a pre-reception with delicious Swabian specialties, Mr. Rudi Hoogvliet, State Secretary for Media Policy and Plenipotentiary of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the Federal Government, welcomed the guests. Prof. Gabriele Abels, speaker of the ECRF executive board, then presented the topics of the 24th edition of the Yearbook, which this year focuses on the topic of "Crisis Federalism – Competition for Solutions or Collective Crisis Management?".

After brief introductory speeches, Prof. Abels discussed the topic of "German civil protection between noble aspirations and federal reality" with Dr. Anna-Lena Hollo, University of Hanover, and Leon Eckert, Member of the Bundestag. There was fundamental agreement that the "uncooperative federalism" in civil protection needs to be reformed. Cross-federal cooperation in the service of - as recent years have shown: urgently needed - better protection of the population from and in cross-border disaster and crisis situations was to be welcomed. However, Dr. Hollo pointed out that this would require a fundamental revision of the constitutional order of competencies for civil protection and the adoption of corresponding constitutional amendments or additions. Mr. Eckert also pleaded for a move away from a "scissors-spreader mentality" in the perception of problems: It must be avoided that the debate on civil protection is dominated by individual disputes, for example about technical equipment. Instead, more attention must be paid to crisis prevention and increasing resilience in the future.

The ECRF would like to thank Dr. Hollo and Mr. Eckert for the excellent panel discussion and all participants. We would also like to thank the State Representation for once again organizing the event so well, as well as Nomos-Publishing, which once again provided a book table with a selection of exciting publications.

Further information about the Yearbook of Federalism 2023, which also includes contributions by Dr. Hollo and Mr. Eckert, and how to order it can be found here.

30.10.2023

Presentation of the Yearbook of Federalism 2023

The European Centre for Research on Federalism (ECRF) and the State Representative of Baden-Württemberg to the Federal Government, State Secretary Rudi Hoogvliet, cordially invite you to the presentation of the Yearbook of Federalism 2023.

The event will take place on Wednesday, 22 November 2023, 5 p.m. (the presentation will begin at 6 p.m.) at the Landesvertretung Baden-Württemberg, Tiergartenstraße 15, 10785 Berlin. Please note that the event will be held in German.

The topic "German civil protection between noble aspirations and federal reality" will be discussed by Leon Eckert MdB and Dr. Anna-Lena Hollo, University of Hannover, under the moderation of Prof. Dr. Gabriele Abels.

Further information on the event and the possibility to register can be found here.

21.11.2022

Presentation of the Yearbook of Federalism 2022 - in cooperation with the State Representation of Baden-Württemberg in Berlin

On 16 November 2022, the ECRF, together with the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the Federation in Berlin, presented the Yearbook of Federalism 2022 - after a two-year break due to the pandemic, finally again in the context of a live event.

The presentation began with a welcome to the guests by the Head of Service of the Representation, Mr. Andreas Schulze, and a greeting from Ms. Muhterem Aras, President of the State Parliament of Baden-Württemberg, who had connected virtually from Stuttgart for the event. After she presented the range of topics of this year's Yearbook and gave a basic introduction to one of the main topics - the "Conference on the Future of Europe" - Prof. Dr. Gabriele Abels, Spokesperson of the Executive Board of the ECRF, discussed with Ms. Aras and Dr. Mark Speich, State Secretary for Federal and European Affairs, International Affairs and Media of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and Representative of the State to the Federation, about their experiences from the conference, in which they had actively participated as part of the delegation of the European Committee of the Regions. The discussion also addressed the question of how to ensure a stronger involvement of citizens and regions in political processes at the European level and what the concrete follow-up should look like. Both discussants saw the Member States and the Council as being primarily responsible for this. The audience also participated actively in the discussion with questions and comments.

The ECRF would like to thank Ms. Aras and Dr. Speich for the excellent hybrid discussion, all participants and especially the Representation of Baden-Württemberg to the Federation for the successful event.

11.11.2022

New publication: Yearbook of Federalism 2022

The 23rd edition of the Yearbook of Federalism has been published!
The Yearbook is designed as a compendium that offers readers an up-to-date overview of various aspects of federal and regional structure and policy in 34 contributions.
In addition to German federalism, current research topics, regional cooperation, EU/European integration and state reports, two topics are the focus this year: The English-language section "Conference on the Future of Europe" deals with the question of how individual member states and their regions have participated in this unique discussion process with citizen participation. On the other hand, "70 Years of Baden-Württemberg" looks at topics that were less central in the official commemorative events.

2022, 516 pages, hard cover, 104,– €
ISBN 978-3-7560-0422-5 
E-Book 978-3-7489-3673-2 

Contents
The Yearbook can be purchased here.