Authorized representative for Franco-German cultural relations

The acting cultural representative Armin Laschet

The authorized representative for Franco-German cultural relations is the German contact person for France in the areas of culture and education. He also represents the federal government in matters that are solely subject to the legislation of the sixteen German federal states . The office was created in 1963 as part of the Franco-German friendship treaty . Acting authorized representative has been the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia Armin Laschet ( CDU ) since January 1, 2019 .

history

The Office of Plenipotentiary for Franco-German Cultural Relations was created together with the Elysée Treaty on January 22, 1963. The contract says literally:

“The defense and army ministers meet at least once every three months. Furthermore, the French Minister of Education meets at the same time intervals with the person named on the German side in order to follow the implementation of the program of cooperation in the cultural field. "

A federal-state agreement of February 6, 1969 regulated some details, such as the fact that the representative is appointed by the federal government for four years on the proposal of the conference of prime ministers and represents the federal republic in cultural affairs. It was also determined that the agent has the rank of federal minister, directly behind the foreign minister.

tasks

Since in the Federal Republic of Germany culture and education are a matter of the federal states, the office of the plenipotentiary was created in order to provide the French government with a point of contact instead of numerous individual ministers of the federal states. He therefore represents the interests of the sixteen German federal states and the federal government in educational and cultural issues vis-à-vis France. In addition, the plenipotentiary coordinates the views of the federal states with foreign policy matters of the federal government in the field of foreign cultural relations with France.

Furthermore, the authorized representative is in active contact with a large number of institutions and authorities in the field of German-French relations .

plenipotentiary

• 1963–1966: Kurt Georg Kiesinger
• 1967–1968: Alfons Goppel
• 1969–1970: Heinz Kühn
• 1971–1974: Hans Filbinger
• 1975–1977: Klaus Schütz
• 1977–1978: Dietrich Stobbe
• 1979–1983: Bernhard Vogel
• 1983–1985: Hans Koschnick
• 1985–1986: Klaus Wedemeier
• 1987–1990: Lothar Späth
• 1991-1994: Oskar Lafontaine
• 1995–1998: Erwin Teufel
• 1999-2002: Kurt Beck
• 2003-2006: Peter Müller
• 2007–2010: Klaus Wowereit
• 2011–2011: Stefan Mappus
• 2011–2011: Peter Müller - at the time Prime Minister of Saarland
• 2011–2014: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer - at the time Prime Minister of Saarland
• 2015–2018: Olaf Scholz - at the time First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
• 2018: Dr. Peter Tschentscher - First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
• since 1.1. 2019: Armin Laschet - Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia

Web links

• Agent's website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on Franco-German cooperation : (PDF; 126 kB)