Die Auẞenpolitik Der Deutschen Bundesländer: a política externa e as atribuições internacionais dos estados federados alemães

Abstract

This paper aims to review and analyze the study of the Bundesländer's foreign relations, the so-called state-level German Paradiplomacy. For this, a review of the evolution of German federalism over the years since the Treaty of Westphalia is carried out, in order to highlight the changes that have occurred in terms of competences attributed to these political subunits when relating internationally. From 1949 onwards, with the creation of the German Basic Law (Grundgesetz), the institutionalization and bureaucratization of guidelines in the country took on a lot of strength and became an absolute reference in the formal conduct of all political spheres in Germany. Therefore, an analysis of the Grundgesetz is made to base the analysis throughout this very graduation work, always considering the conjunctural aspects of the time referred. Despite the well-specified distribution of power in the German Basic Law, foreign policy has been the target of disagreements between the Bundesländer and the Federal Government. Especially due to Art. 23 of the German Basic Law, which creates an increasingly complex trilateral relationship between the Bundesländer, the German Federal Government and the European Union. Emphasis is given to the role of the Bundesrat (German Federal Council) as a key actor in promoting the foreign relations of the Federal Republic of Germany. Furthermore, the Politikverflechtung, the practice of sharing competence to carry out tasks by the German political spheres, is responsible for making a predictability of when there may or may not be conflict between these actors, increasingly smaller. The particularities of the cases reflect well how the relationship between the Bundesländer and the Federal Government works in concrete ways, as they relate internationally and cause side effects to each other. This is demonstrated, especially in the case studies presented in this graduation work and in the deeper analysis in the last chapter. The phenomenon of Europeanization contributes to increasing tensions between the German political spheres, as their differences are more evident, as well as the financial reforms, through which the German Federal Government manages to induce behavior and attitudes of the Bundesländer. From this analysis, it is concluded that only through an increasingly intense cooperation will the political spheres in Germany be able to optimize the process of achieving their particular goals. Finally, considering the specific characteristics of the German Paradiplomacy, German terminologies are used in order to avoid idiomatic confusion, always referring to and adding a translation likewise in Portuguese.