Overview
- At a CSU retreat, Markus Söder argued that some Länder are barely viable and rely on donor states, calling for fewer federal states.
- Saarland’s premier Anke Rehlinger mocked the idea, and CDU candidates Gordon Schnieder and Sven Schulze rejected mergers for their regions.
- Sven Schulze said he would pursue shared administrative bodies after taking office, proposing a single mining authority for three eastern states.
- Saxony’s CDU parliamentary leader Christian Hartmann called the proposal a legitimate impulse to reassess governmental structures and costs.
- Söder named no specific merger targets, and past efforts such as the 1996 Berlin–Brandenburg plan failed as only a few states remain net donors.