Overview
- At a CSU caucus in Kloster Banz, the Bavarian premier urged merging some of the 16 Länder into larger units but named no candidates.
- He proposed granting merged states wider tax powers, including setting their own inheritance tax rates.
- CDU figure Sven Schulze rejected any "Mitteldeutschland" merger idea for Saxony-Anhalt and instead plans shared agencies with Saxony and Thuringia.
- Saarland’s Anke Rehlinger dismissed the plan and noted Bavaria was once a recipient of equalization funds.
- Any reorganization would face steep hurdles requiring a federal law and referendums, and a Berlin‑Brandenburg merger bid failed in 1996, as national coverage casts Söder’s push as largely provocative.