If Hesse were an independent European Union member state, its gross domestic product (GDP) of 368 billion euros would be between that of Denmark and Romania. In other words: 16 of the 27 EU member states produce lower GDP than Hesse. When the 2024 figures were announced, the State Statistics Office also provided a comparison that also takes population into account: If we use GDP per capita as a basis, Hesse ranks even between the Netherlands and Sweden, and only four member states provide better data.
The statistics sometimes used by Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) to describe the importance of himself and the federal state he leads do not mean that Hesse is one of the five most influential players in Europe. But it documents that, unlike many states on the continent, the federal state is an economic heavyweight. Political decisions made in Brussels or Strasbourg are particularly difficult in Hesse from an economic point of view. This explains how big the black-red coalition is in asserting the interests of the federal state in the European Union.
“Subsidies program for the federal government at the expense of the states”
Since the start of the year, for example, Hesse has staunchly opposed the EU’s plan to only provide funding from 2028 through coordination with member states. “Entering a new budget structure would be the end of the EU as we know it,” criticized Europe Minister Manfred Pentz (CDU).
What bothered him most were plans for a new budget structure and associated changes in the decision-making process. “The states will not have any influence on the specific use of the funds. The federal level will negotiate this directly with the EU Commission,” assured the Union politician. In his view, this is a departure from previous practices of joint funding management, where EU funding was not allocated centrally from Brussels, but was planned jointly with member states and regions.
Berlin often uses European funds to cover its budget shortfalls and uses them to finance federal programs it had promised long ago, Pentz said. “Therefore, the EU Commission’s plan is nothing more than a subsidy program for the federal budget at the expense of the states.”
The State Chancellor estimates the total amount at around 1.2 billion euros in the current funding period from 2023 to 2027. Brussels programs often have to be co-financed with federal or state funds. For this reason alone, intensive dialogue was carried out between the recipient municipal governments and state ministries, ultimately determining the specific use of the funds. Pentz is concerned that the decision-making process that preceded the application process may not be applicable in the future.
Hesse invested heavily in state representation in Brussels
Acquisition was the most important task of the Hessian state representatives in Brussels. Top official Friedrich von Heusinger built it for nearly two decades before retiring last year. The Hessian House on Rue Montoyer has long been one of the top addresses in the European Quarter.
This includes an efficient event center. Liaison offices of companies such as Fraport and Helaba as well as regional representatives of Hesse’s European partners in Italy, France and Poland are also located here. Heusinger was also instrumental in bringing the AMLA anti-money laundering authority to Frankfurt. How important it is that the Chancellery of State has long taken this footing is shown by the fact that it employs 30 people in Brussels. For comparison: In the Rhineland-Pfalz state budget, only nine positions are budgeted for its state representatives in Brussels.
“We want to be more political in Brussels,” said the Wiesbaden State Chancellor in a recent statement. Pentz’s official title already indicates this: Lucia Puttrich (CDU), his predecessor in the black-green coalition, is still “Minister of Federal and European Affairs”. Pentz, a close friend of Prime Minister Rhine, according to his official title, is also responsible for “de-bureaucratization”.
He recently introduced legislation to the state legislature that changes 120 individual provisions of the current 90 laws. One focus of the project is to simplify approval procedures, for example in road and environmental law. In certain cases where agreements with other authorities must be made before the government takes a decision, then consultation with them is sufficient.
Rhine with a foreign policy speech in Brussels state representatives
Pentz also wants his bill to be understood as a request to the federal government and the EU Commission. The task of debureaucratization is a link in the program chain that connects Wiesbaden, Berlin and Brussels. So, for example, Pentz campaigned in the Federal Council to ensure that European law in Germany would only be applied “one to one” in the future. The so-called gold plating, for which Brussels requirements are exceeded in Berlin and the federal states, should be a thing of the past.
Union politicians received praise from Hessian industry when two metals and chemical associations presented a study with “action recommendations” to the state government in October. Two years ago, the Hessian “Future Council for Economic Affairs” called for a committee to be set up in Brussels state representation where industry representatives could put forward concrete suggestions for reducing bureaucracy. The state government complied with the request and the now-appointed committee of experts now meets regularly as a “sounding board”.
The speech delivered by the Rhine Prime Minister at his traditional reception at the Brussels state delegation in September was also more “political” than before. Having previously met with the Deputy Secretary General of the Alliance, Radmila Sekerinska, at NATO headquarters, he devoted extensive attention to foreign policy. The Rhine proclaimed “a strong and confident Europe” and seized “the opportunity to create a common European Defense Union – a bastion of peace and freedom.” What sounds so commonplace and depressing is actually thought of more concretely than 250 listeners might suspect.
A few weeks later, Rhine praised the federal government in the state assembly for wanting to invest more money than ever before in security and defense. Then he addressed his real concerns: “With billions in fresh funding from the federal government, we must put together a defense and economic stimulus package – with orders for the national defense industry and investments in the defense capabilities of our infrastructure.” Whoever strengthens Germany’s arms industry will gain jobs and create new growth. This could be “real change for our economy”. On Rhein’s initiative, strengthening the arms industry was on the agenda of the Prime Minister’s Conference on 22-24 October in Mainz.
This region is dependent on Europe
The Union politician then discussed the decisions made at the Hessian “arms summit” with representatives of relevant sectors at the end of October. The aim was to find out “how Hesse, with its powerful armaments group, could best take advantage of this turning point.” This approach is exemplary for the new policies of European state governments. The government is no longer just reacting to funding programs, but is proactively trying to help create a political framework that can provide benefits to domestic industry.
Not only the arms industry relies heavily on the European framework, but also the financial center of Frankfurt, Frankfurt Airport as Europe’s continental hub, the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, the Rhine-Main digital location, the automotive industry and aerospace technology.
So, there is a lot to do in Brussels – and since September 1, the state representatives have had a new chairman. Sixty-three-year-old diplomat Thomas Eckert recently served as the European Union’s ambassador to Mali and previously represented the European Union in Algeria. From 2019 to 2021, he was a member of former Commissioner Elisa Ferreira’s cabinet. Eckert spent four years in Washington for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and for five years the historian, who has a doctorate, worked as head of department at Germany’s Permanent Representation to the European Union. Eckert’s Heusinger predecessors came from the federal state level: he was Bavaria’s chief deputy state representative in Brussels when Hesse poached him there in 2005.
According to State Chancellor Wiesbaden, new chairman Eckert will not only have to maintain Hesse’s contacts with EU institutions, but also work more closely with representatives of other member states than in the past. It seems that the Hessians want to turn a very big wheel in Brussels in the future.
