Rhineland-Palatinate minister defends small municipalities against reform, calling them a 'treasure'
Rhineland-Palatinate's Minister for Municipalities Sven Teuber (SPD) has defended the state's many small local authorities as a source of identity, while warning that a municipal territorial reform would be a withdrawal from the area and a boost to anti-democratic forces.
A landscape of 2,000 municipalities
Rhineland-Palatinate has more than 2,000 local authorities, a fragmentation that critics often label inefficient. For Municipal Affairs Minister Sven Teuber, however, this small-scale structure is a source of regional identity. He told the German Press Agency that it is "a great treasure, it creates home and identity."
The small-scale nature of Rhineland-Palatinate is a great treasure, it creates home and identity.
Challenges for state functionality
Despite this, Teuber acknowledged that the structure brings significant challenges for the functionality of the state and local public services. He stressed that the state must remain capable and accessible to citizens every day as a service provider. The minister wants to preserve all existing levels but believes they must be modernized.
We must think about what this means for the functionality of the state in these structures. The state must be perceived by citizens as capable and also be reachable every day as a service provider.
Reform push and democratic risks
The opposition Green faction in the state parliament announced that it would comment later in the morning on a possible municipal and administrative reform, particularly against the background of strained municipal finances. Teuber flatly rejected any territorial reform, warning that it would mean a withdrawal from the area and could strengthen anti-democratic forces.
A municipal territorial reform would be a withdrawal from the area. If we withdraw from the area, that is an economic stimulus program for those who use democracy to combat it from within.
