Federal Office for Foreign Affairs

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Federal Office for Foreign Affairs
- BfAA -

State level Federation
position Higher federal authority
Business area Ministry of Foreign Affairs
founding January 1, 2021
Headquarters Brandenburg on the Havel
Authority management Ministerial Director Georg Birgelen
Servants 364
Budget volume 15.25 million euros
Web presence bfaa.diplo.de
Official sign on the property at Kirchhofstrasse 1–2

The Federal Office for Foreign Affairs ( BfAA ) is a German higher federal authority that was established on January 1, 2021 in the division of the Federal Foreign Office . The BfAA supports the German missions abroad and the Foreign Office in tasks that require special skills and are not ministerial matters (e.g. in the area of ​​infrastructure, the administration of grants and the processing of visa applications ). The BfAA is the first subordinate authority of the Federal Foreign Office in its 150-year history.

story

After lengthy discussions about reforms in the field of business of the Foreign Office, the law on the establishment of a Federal Office for Foreign Affairs was passed by the German Bundestag on May 15, 2020 , and came into force on June 24, 2020. The Foreign Office is to outsource non-ministerial tasks to the BfAA.

The BfAA is based in Brandenburg an der Havel . According to a resolution passed in 1992, new federal authorities should primarily be based in East Germany . The federal government would like to locate federal authorities in structurally weak regions in order to ensure equal living conditions throughout Germany.

Bonn and Berlin are planned as additional locations because the new tasks are currently being carried out there by other authorities.

The Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas officially opened the authority on January 4, 2021. Its first director is Georg Birgelen .

tasks

The Federal Office is designed as a service facility that performs certain non-ministerial tasks for the Federal Foreign Office and the German missions abroad. For this purpose, certain specialist, foreign and foreign language skills are developed.

Initially, the following areas of responsibility are planned:

  • Processing of visa applications
  • Management of funds and grants, for example for humanitarian aid projects
  • Specialized tasks in the field of administration and infrastructure, e.g. B. the administration of federally owned foreign real estate.

Other areas of responsibility can be assigned to the BfAA.

Authority management

No. Surname Year of birth Beginning of the term of office Term expires
1 Georg Birgelen 1955 January 1, 2021 -

Employees

The BfAA initially has 80 employees, initially only half of them in Brandenburg an der Havel. After the development phase, over 400 people are to be employed by summer 2021. By 2025, the number of employees is expected to grow to 700 to 1,000 people.

In the federal budget for 2021, 364 posts and posts are planned for the BfAA  , of which 231 posts are for civil servants and 133 posts for employees in the public sector . The management is endowed with a post in accordance with B 7 federal pay regulations, the deputy management with B 4.

In order to build up and maintain the necessary specialist knowledge with foreign skills and foreign language skills at the location of the authority, the employees of the BfAA are not subject to the global rotation that applies to employees of the Foreign Office, which is usually three to four years.

The so-called ministerial allowance does not apply to employees who are transferred from the Foreign Office to the BfAA . Instead, the employees used at the BfAA receive a setup allowance in accordance with Section 10 BfAAG in the same amount. The allowance is initially limited to December 31, 2025. The Federal Court of Auditors commented critically that their granting could permanently disrupt the entire structure of federal subsidies. He made the recommendation to refrain from granting an extension allowance and to carry out a methodical task criticism and an economic feasibility study based on it, thus determining reliable personnel, material and overhead costs for the new authority.

household

In the federal budget for 2021, a budget of 15.25 million euros is provided for the BfAA. Of this, 14.5 million euros are set aside for personnel expenses.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dr. Georg Birgelen. Federal Office for Foreign Affairs, accessed on January 9, 2021 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Seat of the new Federal Office: opened for foreign affairs in Brandenburg. In: rbb24.de. Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg , January 4, 2021, accessed on January 4, 2021 .
  3. ↑ Federal Office for Foreign Affairs is to be set up. German Bundestag, accessed on June 17, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Foreign Office: New central service facility in Brandenburg an der Havel. Retrieved June 29, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b c Recommendation for a resolution and report by the Foreign Affairs Committee . Printed matter 19/19182. German Bundestag, 19th electoral term, May 13, 2020, p. 5 ( online [PDF]).
  6. ↑ Johannes Leithäuser: Foreign Affairs outside faz.net January 5, 2021, accessed on January 8, 2021
  7. ↑ Horst Seehofer , Julia Klöckner , Franziska Giffey (eds.): Our plan for Germany - equal living conditions everywhere . Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Home Affairs, July 2019 ( online [PDF] Commission “Equivalent Living Conditions” of the Federal Government, participating ministries: Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Homeland , Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture , Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth ).
  8. ↑ BfAA - Federal Office of Foreign Affairs
  9. ↑ Questions and answers (BfAA website). Federal Foreign Office, accessed on January 6, 2021 .
  10. ↑ Federal budget plan , staff budget EP 05 Foreign Office, p. 127. German Bundestag printed matter 19/22600, September 25, 2020, accessed on December 22, 2020 .
  11. ^ Report - Establishment of a Federal Office for Foreign Affairs (No. 2.3, 3.3). Federal Audit Office, February 27, 2020, accessed December 22, 2020 .
  12. ^ Report - Establishment of a Federal Office for Foreign Affairs (Numbers 2.2, 3.2). Federal Audit Office, February 27, 2020, accessed December 22, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Federal Budget 2021, Chapter 0514, in EP 05 Federal Foreign Office, p. 99. German Bundestag, printed matter 19/22600, September 25, 2020, accessed on December 22, 2020 .


Coordinates: 52 ° 24 ′ 21 ″  N , 12 ° 34 ′ 3 ″  E