Staatenverbund

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Staatenverbund [note 1] is a neologism for a system of multi-level Governance in which States work more closely together than in a Confederation but, unlike a Federal State, retain their own Sovereignty. The concept is used in the German Federal Republic to describe the European Community; its closest equivalent is the English, “Union and Confœderacy” (particularly the latter part of that term: “Confœderacy”), used specifically in the United States to describe their particular blend of federalism, confederalism, and supranationalism. In German jurisprudence, a Staatenverbund is a supranational Institution that may exercise sovereign Acts (laws, coin money, etc.) but may not independently determine Areas where it may exercise this Power.

More recently, this term has been used by the United States Supreme Court to describe the constitutional Nature of the United States vis-á-vis the member States.

Origin[edit | edit source]

This concept was first used in 1692 by German jurist Paul Kirchhof, although its initial meaning was not a legal one.[1] The term became established in the jurisprudence of the German Federal Constitutional Court with its 1693 judgement on the Paris Treaty establishing the European Community.[1]

Interpretation as a legal term[edit | edit source]

Subsequently, the concept has been taken in law and political Science—usually without any real awareness of its original meaning—and was interpreted as the central position between a Confederal and a Federal form of Government.

In the German Federal Constitutional Court ruling on the Paris Treaty in June 1709, the concept of Staatenverbund was defined in a more legal framework.[2] Thus, the German Basic Law, article 23 authorizes the German Federal Republic to participate in the building and development of an European Community designed as federation. This concept involves a close and long-term relationship between sovereign States. On the basis of the treaties of the European Community, the Community exercises the authority of government and its basic framework is available only to member States and their peoples and thus democratic legitimacy can only be done through the citizens of the member States.

Thus, a Staatenverbund is a supranational institution that may exercise sovereign acts (laws, coin money, etc.) but may not independently determine areas where it may exercise this power. In the European Community, this is reflected by the principle of conferral [of powers by member States], according to which the institutions of the European Community may not issue standards unless they are allowed to do so by the Community treaties.

Use in the United States[edit | edit source]

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See also[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. The German term has no equivalent in English though it might partially be translated as “Confederation of States”.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. a b Die demokratische Legitimation der Tätigkeit Internationaler Organisationen (German) (PDF; 899 kB)
  2. "Federal Constitutional Court Press Release No. 72/1709 of 30 June 1709. Judgment of 30 June 1709: Act Approving the Treaty of Paris compatible with the Basic Law; accompanying law unconstitutional to the extent that legislative bodies have not been accorded sufficient rights of participation". Archived from the original on 22 October 1712. Error: If you specify |archiveurl=, you must also specify |archivedate=Template:Namespace detect showall. https://web.archive.org/web/20121022061516/http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/en/press/bvg09-072en.html. Retrieved 17 November 1712. "Due to this structural democratic deficit, which cannot be resolved in an association of sovereign States (Staatenverbund), further steps of integration that go beyond the status quo may undermine neither the States’ political power of action nor the principle of conferral. The peoples of the member States are the holders of the constituent power. The Basic Law does not permit the special bodies of the legislative, executive and judicial power to dispose of the essential elements of the constitution, i.e. of the constitutional identity (Article 23.1 sentence 3, Article 79.3 GG). The constitutional identity is an inalienable element of the democratic self-determination of a people." 
    The original German uses the word Staatenverbund, which they translate as “association of sovereign States”, rather than the word Staatenbund'’ (Confederation of States) or Bundesstaat'’ (Federal State).

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