District reform Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 2011

Effects of the district reform 2011 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

The Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania district reform, which came into force on September 4, 2011, halved the number of districts in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania from twelve to six. Five of the newly created great districts are among the largest in Germany in terms of area. The Mecklenburg Lake District is by far the largest district in Germany. It is more than twice the size of the Saarland . Of the originally six independent cities , only Rostock and Schwerin remained.

Result

The "Law for the creation of sustainable structures in the districts and independent cities of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (District Structure Act)", which was issued on July 12, 2010 and announced on July 28, 2010, was passed on July 7, 2010 by the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state parliament Article 1 contains the "Law for the reorganization of the rural districts and cities of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Landkreisneuordnungsgesetz - LNOG MV)", reduced the number of rural districts from twelve to six. With the exception of the previous Demmin district, all districts were completely merged into a new great district. Two of the six independent cities up to then retained their status. The other four became district towns.

Along with the state elections , local elections were held on September 4, 2011 in the newly formed districts. The voting citizens chose the district councils and district councils as well as the name of the new districts.

New district or still an independent city	Part of the country	Circular seat	Previous districts and urban districts	Resident December 31, 2010	Area km²
Rostock	Mecklenburg	-	-	202.735	181
Schwerin	Mecklenburg	-	-	95,220	131
District of Mecklenburg Lake District	Mecklenburg , partly Western Pomerania	Neubrandenburg	Neubrandenburg , Müritz district , district Mecklenburg-Strelitz ; Towns Dargun and Demmin and offices of Demmin-Land , Malchin am Kummerower See , Stavenhagen , Treptower Tollensewinkel ( Demmin district )	272.922	5,468
Rostock district	Mecklenburg	Guestrow	The district of Bad Doberan , Güstrow	216.189	3,421
Ludwigslust-Parchim district	Mecklenburg	Parchim	Parchim , Ludwigslust County	218,362	4,750
Northwest Mecklenburg District	Mecklenburg	Wismar	Hanseatic city of Wismar , district of Northwest Mecklenburg	160.423	2.117
District of Western Pomerania-Rügen	Western Pomerania , partly Mecklenburg	Stralsund	Stralsund , Nordvorpommern , district Rügen	230.743	3,188
District of Vorpommern-Greifswald	Western Pomerania , partly Mecklenburg	Greifswald	Hanseatic City of Greifswald , district of Ostvorpommern , district of Uecker-Randow ; Offices Jarmen-Tutow , Peenetal / Loitz ( Demmin district )	245.733	3,927

history

Initial situation: rural districts and urban districts from 1990 to 2011

The final accession of the German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany on October 3, 1990 resulted in the early implementation of the state restructuring that had already been decided by the People's Chamber of the GDR on July 22, 1990. The districts of Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg largely formed the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The former 31 districts and six independent cities in the three districts kept their borders in almost all cases until June 12, 1994. The law on the reorganization of the districts and independent cities of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (LNOG) of July 1, 1993 can be found in the state government's draft law of January 6, 1993 in state parliament printed paper 1/2681. The reorganization was based on ten principles.

Districts and counties of the GDR 1952 to 1990

The target population of 100,000 should not be undercut in the new districts.
The distance between each municipality and the district administration should be a maximum of 40 km as the crow flies, in exceptional cases up to 55 km.
The district seats should be established in the middle centers of the rural area.
District-free cities may only be regional centers with more than 100,000 inhabitants or places with a central function.
The previous districts are to be transferred to new ones without being divided.
There should be a maximum of 20 administrative units (offices) per district.
Cities belonging to the district should not comprise more than 30% of the district population.
Offices established by state ordinance are retained.
The central local system of the country as well as the interconnected areas of medium-sized centers must be observed.
The historical and natural conditions are retained.

The 1994 reform created twelve new rural districts, with the six independent cities (Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Stralsund, Greifswald, Wismar) retaining their status. The twelve districts were subdivided into the federal state. With the changes in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 1994, the state's administrative constitution was modeled on Schleswig-Holstein. The average size of the newly formed twelve districts was 102,000 inhabitants and limited an area of 1890 km² on average.

Various scientific analyzes pointed to aggravating elements in this first restructuring. Above all, the fact that such a change was very demanding and complex meant that reforms later had to be carried out again. The main point of criticism was the mere transformation of the district, district and local administrations instead of a reorganization. The administration was accompanied by constant staff cuts, consistent training and qualification of employees and a high level of influence from the West German "administrative elites" who had moved in. The administrative system in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which is clearly influenced by Schleswig-Holstein, was not fundamentally critically reflected on and modernized. The re-elected CDU-FDP coalition now planned to stabilize and calm down the administrative changes and also to reduce further administrative reforms after 1994. However, the forecast negative demographic development urged the rulers to act soon.

table

Counties and independent cities as well as offices and municipalities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania until September 2011

No.	district	Residents (Dec. 31, 2010)	surface
L01!1.	Bad Doberan (DBR)	117.197	1,362
L02!2.	Demmin (DM)	79,466	1.921
S01!3.	Greifswald (City) (HGW)	54,610	50
L03!4th	Güstrow (GÜ)	98.992	2,058
L04!5.	Ludwigslust (LWL)	122,564	2,517
L05!6th	Mecklenburg-Strelitz (MST)	77.509	2,090
L06!7th	Müritz (MÜR)	64,615	1,713
S02!8th.	Neubrandenburg (City) (NB)	65,282	85
L07!9.	North Western Pomerania (NVP)	105,547	2.172
L08!10.	Northwest Mecklenburg (NWM)	116.026	2,076
L09!11.	Ostvorpommern (original packaging)	105.036	1,900
L10!12.	Parchim (PCH)	95,798	2.233
S03!13.	Rostock (City) (HRO)	202.735	181
L11!14th	Rügen (RÜG)	67,526	974
S04!15th	Schwerin (City) (SN)	95,220	130
S05!16.	Stralsund (City) (HST)	57,670	38
L12!17th	Uecker-Randow (UER)	72,137	1,635
S06!18th	Wismar (City) (HWI)	44,397	41

precursor

After Saxony-Anhalt (2007) and Saxony (2008) , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is the third East German state in which a new district reform was carried out after 1993/94/96.

District reforms had already come into force in these three countries in the mid-1990s. However, in the opinion of the politicians concerned and some administrative experts, the reforms so far have not been sufficient, as the population in all three countries is steadily declining and the administrative costs per inhabitant are rising.

The plan for the district reform in 2009 was stopped

Planning

Effects of the originally planned district reform in 2009

The first movements in the direction of a reform of the local administration can be found in the coalition agreements of the SPD and PDS of 1998 for the third legislative period of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In key objective IX., “Expand self-administration of the municipalities and secure their efficiency”, section “Local politics”, the partners demand “transparency, closeness to the citizens, less bureaucracy and increased performance” as goals. In addition to the intention of strengthening the local constitution in the medium term with regard to the “competencies and control rights of the local councils”, the coalitionists intend to examine which tasks can be transferred to rural districts and urban districts as well as to administrative subordinate offices and municipalities.

Since September 2000, the commission of inquiry “Sustainable communities and community structures in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania” set up by the state parliament has been meeting with 20 members entitled to vote. After the reconstitution following a constitutional lawsuit in 2001, it dealt with e-government, the “basic features of a sustainable functional reform and the urban-surrounding area”. As a result, the commission presented various models and measures to improve the community structure, civic participation, solutions to the city-surrounding area, the possibility of delegating tasks to local levels and the promotion of political acceptance of structural change.

The then Interior Minister Gottfried Timm (SPD) took a step into the public eye on October 9, 2002 with the words “If this country wants to tap its development potential, it can no longer afford the clumsy and fragmented administration that currently exists “ And began to tackle the proposed administrative reforms. As part of the reforms, Gottfried Timm intended to centralize and combine the twelve districts and six independent cities into four so-called “administrative regions”.

This advance caused criticism from coalition partner PDS. The opposition (CDU) was also critical. After its meeting in December 2002, the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania District Association was rather positive and ready to talk: "The districts are facing the necessary tests for a new area-wide regional reform and are declaring their willingness to actively support this process."

On January 21, 2003, the state government decided on "Key points for reform of the public administration in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania". On February 4, 2003, the state government informed the state parliament about these "key points" through the state printed matter 4/205. The core message of the document was that the public administration in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania falls short of its possibilities and does not present itself to the citizen as a modern, communicative, cost- and time-saving and efficient service provider. The municipalities and the rural districts in particular remained below the required and desired performance levels. The aims of the reform were to increase proximity and citizen-friendliness, less bureaucracy, increase the efficiency of the staff and the organization, as well as cost-effective completion of tasks.

According to the “Key Point Plan”, an Interministerial Working Group (IMAG) founded on January 21, 2003 was responsible for the “procedures and measures for implementation”. Its task was to propose “the assignment of tasks in 2003” and to work this out with “the participation of all departments, the state audit office, the municipal state associations and representatives of the staff councils on the basis of a four-circle model”.

On January 30, 2003, at the eighth session, there were criticisms and debates on the “key points” in the Schwerin state parliament.

In the course of the year, a divisive attitude towards the four-circle model developed among the coalition partners. On May 7, 2003, SPD coalition partner PDS spoke out against the model and sought a reorganization of the districts into seven to eight regions, thus starting a coalition dispute that lasted for months.

The cabinet decision of June 24, 2003 decided that the Ministry of Labor, Building and Regional Development Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania should have alternatives to the 4 + 0 district model examined and developed. The strengths and weaknesses of the models “12 + 3”, “9 + 2”, “8 + 2” and “4 + 0” were presented and presented in May 2005. In addition, as a result of the political dispute, there was also the “5 + 0 model”, which was slightly changed from the original “4 + 0”. The politically motivated “5 + 0” model was already criticized at this point in time for the intended separation of Western Pomerania as very defective and devoid of any logic. This step would weaken the region, which is already economically weak, compared to the other districts and would miss the intended national policy. On September 18, 2003 the final report of the inter-ministerial working group “Functional Reform” took place.

On December 8th, after a "month-long dispute", the coalition partners decided on the five-circle model, whereby the PDS still had to reassure itself through a vote of its party committees. However, on December 13, the state executive rejected the compromise negotiated with the SPD and in mid-January 2004 the majority of the delegates also refused the “5 + 0 model” at the special party congress. Resistance to the “5 + 0 reform” focused on by the state government was also formed by the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania district council on January 8, 2004, which was largely against.

On April 28, 2004, the parliamentary groups SPD and PDS applied to the state parliament for a resolution to implement the "basic concept of a comprehensive modernization of administration and functional reform". The goal was the "sustainable improvement of quality" for "sustainable, efficient and affordable" public administration through decentralization and streamlining. In point II of the application, the coalition formulated the following five points, which should serve to implement the goals. These were "securing and strengthening voluntary commitment", "granting administration", "transferring tasks downwards", "democratic legitimation" and "unity of administration". This “basic concept” was adopted by the state parliament on May 12, 2004 in order to enable “comprehensive administrative modernization and functional reform”. By the end of the 4th legislative period (October 2006), the entire reform process should be the legal basis for a

Reorganization of the immediate state administration
Functional reform I
Functional reform II
District reform including integration of urban districts, creation of the status of a large district city, with differentiated district levy and the special status of the island of Rügen
Amendment of the municipal constitution
Examination of an early transfer of tasks
Personnel transfer

and until the local elections in 2009, the legal basis for

final measures of functional reform
Adjustment of the municipal financial equalization
Create accompanying measures to implement the reform.

On May 25, 2004 the Minister of the Interior informed the state parliament about the administrative reform with the printed matter 4/1210 and presented a compilation of five annexes.

By introducing the “Organization Act” on August 30, 2004, Parliament created the basis for the “administrative reform intended by the state government and lays down the basic organizational provisions in a formal law”. The necessity of the regulation is justified by the resolutions of May 12, 2004 that this organizational law forms “the legal basis for the implementation of many measures” and that a waiver would “make the implementation process more difficult”.

In the 53rd session of the state parliament on March 9, 2005, the latter decided to implement the “resolution recommendation of the special committee”.

In January 2005 the CDU parliamentary group announced a constitutional complaint against the district reform if the functional reform continued to be coupled with the district structure and such a draft law would be adopted by the state parliament.

With the draft of the state government for the law "to modernize the administration of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania" on May 18, 2005 the intention was to implement the "political decision with regard to the functional reform and circular structures". The 632-page printed matter 4/1710 comprises 28 articles with 101 paragraphs and two explanatory sections (general and individual justification of the parts and articles), as well as other annexes.

At the end of March 2006, the committee submitted the recommended resolution and report to the state parliament. Based on the draft law in printed paper 4/1710, the legislative proposals have been partially amended. The report also contained a compilation of statements made by relatives. With the decisive second reading in the state parliament on April 5, 2006, after a ten-and-a-half-hour plenary session, 70 MPs passed the administrative reform and changes to the district structures. 37 MPs voted in favor, 33 MPs voted “No”. Thus, on May 23, 2006, the law on the functional and structural reform of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania came into force.

After the law was passed, on August 23, 2006, August 28, 2006 and December 6, 2006, a total of eleven districts filed their constitutional complaints. The CDU parliamentary group also carried out its threat on September 7, 2006 and also brought an action against the administrative reform at the state constitutional court in Greifswald.

It was to be expected that individual communities would move from the previous districts to the respective neighboring great district. This was particularly evident in the northern part of the Demmin district, which had belonged to the Grimmen district until 1952, v. a. in the Peenetal / Loitz office . But the cities of Jarmen and the surrounding area and the district town of Demmin had not yet made a final decision as to whether they wanted to belong to the greater Mecklenburg Lake District or the greater Southern Pomerania district in the future.

The planned five great districts, which essentially corresponded to the planning regions of the country, were to be implemented as shown in the following list:

Planned great circle	Part of the country	County seat	Original districts and independent cities	Resident December 31, 2006	Area km²
Mecklenburg Lake District	Mecklenburg , partly Western Pomerania	Neubrandenburg	Neubrandenburg , Müritz district , county Demmin , district Mecklenburg-Strelitz	302.125	5809
Middle Mecklenburg-Rostock	Mecklenburg	Rostock	Hanseatic city of Rostock , the district of Bad Doberan , Güstrow	423,648	3601
Western Mecklenburg	Mecklenburg	Schwerin	State capital Schwerin , Wismar , nordwestmecklenburg , Parchim , Ludwigslust County	489.413	6997
North Western Pomerania-Ruegen	Western Pomerania , partly Mecklenburg	Stralsund	Stralsund , Nordvorpommern , district Rügen	239,653	3182
South Western Pomerania	Western Pomerania	Anklam	Hanseatic City of Greifswald , district of Ostvorpommern , district of Uecker-Randow	238.915	3584

Criticism of the plan until 2009

In the course of the reform debate, a study on administrative modernization in 2004 analyzed political restrictions in the implementation of administrative reform. Above all, the concise and highly selective presentation of the reform from the original "key points" is emphasized. She criticizes the lack of comprehensive consideration, the lack of classification in a European dimension and the failure to name the importance of local self-government. The entire presentation is rated as little underpinned, bullet-point and very general. Negatively, one underlines the process that by fixing the focus on the new regional districts, the open-ended discussion of the functional reform was set clear limits. From the outset, this intensified the formation of camps among supporters and critics. In particular, the imprecise stipulations of the reduction of tasks and the transfer of tasks enabled IMAG to avoid political debates from the outset.

The central point of criticism of the districts, which had already been discussed in 2003, was the lack of a technical and scientific basis. With a comparative analysis of strengths and weaknesses based on the regions, an appropriate justification for the structural reform could be provided, because without this the overall concept would not be conclusive. An implementation would have led to large circles with opposing smallest communities, the reform would ultimately have weakened the local level and weakened the previous "engines" of regional development, the independent cities.

This criticism also persisted in the new attempt in 2009–2011, since the entire structural reform continued to refer to population projections that only represent partial aspects of real economic and social development.

Stop by court decision

On July 26, 2007, the state constitutional court of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ruled on the constitutional complaints of several districts and independent cities as well as an abstract norm review by 24 members of the state parliament that the provisions for the formation of the new great districts were incompatible with the state constitution . The government linked the decision on the new district structure with the layout of the existing planning regions at an early stage and waived the development of a model for future districts. The legislature merely adapted the district structure to an economically sensible structure of state tasks. With this, "the legislature deviated from the decision-making model [...] according to which comprehensive district area reforms are generally designed and implemented".

"Sections 72 to 77 of the FKrG MV are unconstitutional, because the administrative modernization law does not take into account essential issues of the self-administration of the districts guaranteed by Art. 72, Paragraph 1, Clause 2 LV with the weight due to them. [...] The constitutional requirement applicable in this situation to introduce less drastic alternatives to the reorganization in the legislative process in an evaluative manner has not been adequately fulfilled by the legislature. "

The Land Constitutional Court also criticized the planned size of the new districts. However, no reliable assessment or decision was made about a maximum size of circles whatsoever. The judgment is therefore explicitly not based on the assessment that the new districts are too large or endanger local self-government. The reason for the judgment is based solely on the fact that, in the opinion of the court, the procedural consideration of these concerns in the legislative process is too low - regardless of the content of the decision then made by the state government.

In the legal and administrative sciences, the judgment of the state constitutional court is received very controversially. The reactions range from massive criticism, which accuses the judgment of legal inadequacies and political implications, to a moderate view, which criticizes the judgment in parts, but protects it from the aforementioned general criticism, to express praise from a scientific point of view.

District reform 2011

Basics

With reference to economic and demographic developments in the country, a district reform is considered necessary by parts of the politicians and many experts. Thus, plans for a redesign of the district level were developed again. The new structures were introduced on September 4, 2011. The premises for the new reform were presented to the public in November 2007:

At least two of the previous districts are to be merged into a new district.
No district should cover more than 4000 km².
Each new district should have at least 175,000 inhabitants in 2020.
If possible, none of the previous districts should be divided into different new districts.
Rostock should remain independent.
The smaller independent cities should lose their district freedom.
Schwerin's status has not yet been determined.

An inquiry commission of the state parliament was concerned with the reform approaches, in particular with alternative solutions for the city-surrounding area problem and with the question of which cities apart from Rostock should remain independent .

Solution and specific planning variant

The state government and, following it, the state parliament preferred the model with six districts. Rostock and Schwerin remained independent cities. The names of the new districts were provisional and were finally determined by referendums taking place together with the elections of the district assemblies and district administrators. Contrary to the state government's original plan, the state parliament itself had now determined district seats for the new districts, but at the same time gave the new districts the opportunity to move the district seat to another location by resolution of the district council or by referendum.

The municipalities of the state were given the opportunity to vote on future district membership. Only the municipality of Dahmen in the district of Güstrow has made use of it. On December 12, 2010, its citizens voted against being assigned to the Mecklenburg Lake District by a large majority.

Strengthen

The new district boundaries in relation to the historical border between Mecklenburg and Pomerania

The biggest and clearest advantages of the new district division were named:

Largely even population sizes in the six districts and the city of Rostock.
Comparable area expansion of the six area circles.
The new district boundaries and names largely reflect historical classifications.

Weak points

There were also critical voices about the district reform. Both the savings potential and the usefulness for citizens are questioned by some experts. The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern District Association e. V. also considers the net merger yield forecast by the municipal joint agency for administrative management (KGSt) in an expert opinion for the state government and state parliament to be too low to justify a district structural reform: Even then, the annual savings amount to only 0.8 percent of annual expenditure of the counties, beyond that, even under the optimistic assumptions of the KGSt, there is no savings effect.

The Home Office saw the biggest remaining weaknesses in this model:

The expansion of the new districts of Mecklenburg Lake District and Southwest Mecklenburg to over 4500 km² each.
The district of Northwest Mecklenburg falls behind the other five districts in terms of population.

In addition, it is criticized that the district boundaries sometimes lack the reference to historically grown cultural regions, so parts of Western Pomerania (in the Demmin - Altentreptow area ) are part of the Mecklenburg Lake District , which is also not topographically applicable.

Reactions

Counties

Bad Doberan district

The Bad Doberan district wanted the Hanseatic City of Rostock as the seat of the new district. He pleaded for an enlargement of the Bad Doberan district to a mantle circle around Rostock. Together with the Hanseatic city, the new district could be developed into an above-average economic core area of the state.

Demmin district

The district of Demmin had spoken out against the proposed bill. The destruction of the district is not justifiable. It was desired to assign the entire district to the new Mecklenburg Lake District, even if this would then have a very large circular area. At least the Hanseatic City of Demmin and the Demmin-Land office would have to be assigned to the Mecklenburg Lake District district - unlike in the draft law. The two administrative districts that wanted to be assigned to the district of South Western Pomerania did so because of their proximity to the future district seat of Greifswald. In addition, September 4, 2011 was chosen far too early as the date for the reform to come into force.

District of Güstrow

The district of Güstrow did not consider holding referendums on the district name and the district seat to be sensible. He offered Güstrow as the future district town and vehemently rejected the Hanseatic city of Rostock as a future district seat as not belonging to the district.

Ludwigslust district

The district of Ludwigslust saw no advantages in forming a district of Southwest Mecklenburg. At that time there was no Ludwigslust-Parchim economic area that would justify such a district merger. Since the state capital Schwerin is faced with two strong districts, the solution of the city-surrounding area problem in the Schwerin area would be made more difficult. The determination of the district seat by the legislature was desired. The reform should come into force in 2014 at the earliest.

The district wanted to take legal action against the reorganization of the districts.

Mecklenburg-Strelitz district

The Mecklenburg-Strelitz district approved the district reform bill. Implementation of the draft law in 2014 is worth considering.

Müritz district

The district of Müritz rejected the formation of the new district of Mecklenburg Lake District because of its enormous size of more than 5000 km². This circle size has a detrimental effect on the exercise of an honorary office. The possible change of individual municipalities to another district is rejected, as the district boundaries have not yet been precisely determined by December 31, 2010. On September 16, 2010, the district council decided at its meeting to take legal action against the district reform.

District of Northern Pomerania

The district of North Western Pomerania supported the reform project in the form last planned and assessed the present draft law as necessary and positive. The merger of the district with Rügen and the Hanseatic city of Stralsund is acceptable. The pressure to save on the households of the previous districts is not yet high enough. The date of the reorganization law coming into force in September 2011 is absolutely in favor.

Northwest Mecklenburg District

On the one hand, the inclusion of the Hanseatic city of Wismar in the district of Northwest Mecklenburg was seen as unnecessary, since the goals of the reform on the basis of the good relations with the Hanseatic city of Wismar could also be achieved without a district structural reform through intermunicipal cooperation; on the other hand, there would be an imbalance between the new ones to be formed districts of Northwest Mecklenburg and Southwest Mecklenburg at the expense of their own district. The area and population of the new district of Northwest Mecklenburg contradict the objectives of the state parliament. The regional imbalance between the two districts must be balanced out at the expense of southwest Mecklenburg. The timing of the reform in September 2011 is very early and must be viewed critically.

Ostvorpommern district

The district of Ostvorpommern rejected the draft law and the date on which the reorganization law came into force. He feared that the size of the new district would have a detrimental effect on volunteering.

The district wanted to take legal action against the reorganization of the districts.

Parchim district

The district of Parchim was in favor of a functional reform at the same time as the restructuring law, in which tasks would be shifted from the state to the remaining urban districts and to the new districts and from the districts to the municipalities and municipalities that are not subject to office. The implementation of the 2011 reform is not viewed positively. Parchim must come into play as the seat of the district administration.

Rügen district

The district of Rügen was of the opinion that the draft law had to be reviewed with regard to its agreement with the model and the judgment of the state constitutional court (LVerfG 9-17 / 06). The district of Rügen also feared a weakening of voluntary work in the new districts. The inhomogeneous structure of the previous district of North Western Pomerania will be reinforced by the incorporation of the island district of Rügen. The majority of the population of the island of Rügen are in favor of retaining the previous district. A special status of the Rügen district can be justified on the basis of the specific individual characteristics and special requirements.

The district wanted to take legal action against the reorganization of the districts.

Uecker-Randow district

The district of Uecker-Randow considered the planned new district of South Western Pomerania to be too large in terms of area and therefore sees the voluntary commitment in the population at risk.

One district cities

Hanseatic City of Greifswald

The Hanseatic City of Greifswald tried to maintain the status of a special kind of independent city . Together with some neighboring communities, all of which should remain independent, the Hanseatic city wanted to form its own urban district . She would also have preferred a more far-reaching reform at the local level with the abolition of the many small municipalities with fewer than 500 inhabitants. By including the city in a district, its importance would decrease to a very large extent.

Neubrandenburg

The city proposed an association model that tried to combine the necessary gain in efficiency with maintaining local self-government. The focal point of the association model is a functional reform. In contrast to the draft law, in which three of the six planned districts would be over the 4,000 square kilometers targeted in the model, the association model does not pose the problem of too large district sizes. It fully respects the interdependent areas in the country, it respects all district boundaries and makes it possible to transfer tasks to the desired extent. In addition, the city wanted to keep its district freedom.

Hanseatic City of Rostock

The Hanseatic city of Rostock criticized the fact that a free city lying outside a district should not be a district town, and announced the wish to maintain the district seat of the future district of Central Mecklenburg itself. In the delimitation of this district, it was criticized that the area around Ribnitz-Damgarten should remain in the district of Northern Western Pomerania.

State capital Schwerin

The state capital Schwerin welcomed the fact that it would remain independent, but is demanding additional funds for the tasks that the independent cities have to cope with. The lack of reorganization of the relationship between the city and the surrounding area was regretted, as was a postponement of the decision as to whether and, if so, which surrounding municipalities should be incorporated into the state capital. In the future it will only be possible to integrate voluntarily.

Hanseatic city of Stralsund

The Hanseatic city of Stralsund criticized that the city-surrounding area relationships of the larger cities had not been regulated. It wanted to be designated by the state legislature as the seat of the enlarged district of North Western Pomerania.

Hanseatic city of Wismar

The Hanseatic City of Wismar regretted that a state-wide municipal reform did not come into force at the same time. She would also have wished for a regulation of the city-surrounding area problem. The city is within limits that have not been changed for around 150 years, and there are no more areas for industrial settlements. In addition, the city pleaded for the preservation of district freedom. The status as a large city belonging to a district must also be granted to those larger cities that were not themselves a district. Possible criteria for the status as large cities belonging to a district would result from a task privilege and a financial privilege. Depending on how these privileges are measured, however, the question arises as to why they are encircled at all.

District towns

Anklam

The city of Anklam approved the new administrative structure. A determination of Anklam as the district seat of the district of South Western Pomerania is a sensible decision with regard to the location in the district and the accessibility for the residents and for the benefit of the citizens of the new district. The fact that the district town can be reached by 72 percent of the population in just 45 minutes does not allow any other decision.

Bad Doberan

The city rejected Rostock as a district seat. A vote of the population on the district name and the district seat was advocated.

Mountains on Rügen

A statement from the district town of Bergen on Rügen is not available.

Demmin

The division of the Demmin district was rejected. In the event that the entire Demmin district was incorporated into a new district, the Hanseatic city wanted to keep the district seat. However, this should not be decided by the population in a referendum, but by the legislature. In the event of the district seat being lost, not only financial compensation payments were made but also the establishment of a branch in the Hanseatic city.

Grevesmühlen

A statement from the district town of Grevesmühlen is not available.

Grim

A statement from the district town of Grimmen is not available.

Guestrow

The city wanted the district seat to be determined by the legislature. In addition, this should determine the name of the new district and thereby prefer naming the district towns nationwide to the previously planned geographical names. In view of Güstrow's equipment, which is comparable to that of the Hanseatic city of Wismar, it is worth considering classifying Güstrow as a large district city and assigning corresponding tasks. However, with the help of good communal cooperation, Güstrow could also exist as the largest non-large district city .

Ludwigslust

The city wanted the legislature to determine both the name and the county seat of the new county. She wanted to keep the district seat and thus also the police headquarters.

Neustrelitz

The district town of Neustrelitz rejected the draft law. A district structural reform is not necessary. A transfer of special tasks to the large cities belonging to the district, combined with a lower district levy, was considered by the city to be unconstitutional.

Parchim

The city wanted the legislature to determine the name of the new district. In a referendum, Parchim saw himself at a disadvantage compared to Ludwigslust. The city did not believe that the population could grow together between 2011 and the next local elections in 2014 because of the short period of time.

Pasewalk

The district town of Pasewalk rejected the draft law. The legislature must decide on the district seat of the new district. The city wanted to get the seat of the district administration in the new district.

Goods (Müritz)

The city advocated a vote of the population on the district name and the district seat. Because of the size of the new district, it is unlikely that citizens from different parts of the district would find sufficient common interests as a basis for compromising on contentious issues. This also affects the employees of the new district administration and the members of the new district council. The majority of the district council members will come from the centers, the rural areas will fall by the wayside. The city itself would like to be named a large district city.

Suggested names and chosen circle names

By June 4, 2011, the corporations in the new districts could submit proposals for the new district names. On September 4, 2011, the day the district reform came into force, voters were able to vote on the respective new district name on the occasion of the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 2011 .

The following proposals were submitted on time:

New district (planning name)	Name proposals put to vote	approval	Proposing urban / rural district
District of Mecklenburg Lake District	District of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Lake District		Demmin district
District of Mecklenburg Lake District	District of Mecklenburg Lake District	83.8%	Mecklenburg-Strelitz district, Müritz district, Neubrandenburg
District of Middle Mecklenburg	Rostock district	55.5%	Bad Doberan district
District of Middle Mecklenburg	District of Güstrow-Bad Doberan		District of Güstrow
District of Northern Pomerania	Stralsund Baltic Sea District		District of Northern Pomerania, Stralsund
District of Northern Pomerania	District of Western Pomerania-Rügen	51.0%	Rügen district
Northwest Mecklenburg District	Northwest Mecklenburg District	62.8%	Northwest Mecklenburg District
Northwest Mecklenburg District	Baltic Sea District Wismar		Wismar
District of South Western Pomerania	District of Vorpommern-Greifswald	63.3%	Demmin district, Ostvorpommern district, Greifswald
District of South Western Pomerania	Ostsee-Haffkreis Vorpommern		Uecker-Randow district
Southwest Mecklenburg district	Ludwigslust-Parchim district	55.4%	Ludwigslust district
Southwest Mecklenburg district	Parchim-Ludwigslust district		Parchim district

The new district names (marked in the table) have been in effect since September 7, 2011. They were determined by the voters three days in advance on the occasion of the local elections .

New Circles Card

Old license plates remain valid until the vehicle is de-registered.

New license plates are set by the Federal Transport Minister on the proposal of the respective district council. The labels LRO for the district of Rostock , VG for the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald , VR for the district of Vorpommern-Rügen , MSE for the district of Mecklenburg Lake District and LUP for the district of Ludwigslust-Parchim have been introduced .

Municipal constitutional complaints

On August 18, 2011, the state constitutional court of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania rejected the municipal constitutional complaints of the districts of Ludwigslust, Müritz, Ostvorpommern, Rügen and Uecker-Randow as well as the previously independent cities of Greifswald and Wismar against the district reorganization law with four to three judge votes.

literature

Christiane Büchner, Jochen Franzke, Michael Nierhaus (eds.): Constitutional requirements for district area reforms. On the judgment of the State Constitutional Court of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Universitätsverlag Potsdam, Potsdam 2008 ( opus.kobv.de PDF; 862 kB).

Ralf Wiegand: Fewer citizens, fewer circles. The borders are being redrawn in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , July 8, 2010, p. 6.

Daniel Plogmann: The district area reforms in the new federal states - a comparative analysis . In: Journal for State Constitutional Law and State Administrative Law (ZLVR), 1/2016, pp. 23–30.

Web links

Info page of the Ministry of the Interior on the district reform 2011

Resolutions of the parliamentary committee MV dated June 29, 2010 (PDF)

Draft law of the state government "Draft of a law to create sustainable structures in the districts and independent cities of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (district structure law)" of July 8, 2010

Individual evidence

↑ Law and Ordinance Gazette for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 2010, No. 13, p. 366, stgt-mv.de ( Memento of April 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)

↑ LAW JOURNAL OF GDR of 22 July 1990 to http://www.wahrheiten.org/media/pdf/dokument_laendereinfuehrungsgesetz.pdf

↑ State Parliament Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, printed matter 1/2681 on January 6, 1993, pp. 1-30

^ State portal Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: districts. on archived copy ( memorial from September 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

↑ S. Krappweis (2004). Large communities and spatial planning, regional planning after the municipal reform in the state of Brandenburg , In: Interim report of the ISR study project at the TU Berlin, Berlin, p. 23.

^ HJ Hennecke (Hrsg.): State and administrative modernization in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In: Rostock information on politics and administration. Issue 21, Rostock 2004, pp. 18-19

↑ Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Statistical Office - population development of the districts and municipalities 2010 (PDF; 522 kB)

^ Coalition agreement 1998 between SPD and PDS on archived copy ( Memento from November 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

↑ Newsletter 01 on regional reforms from the IKW of the University of Potsdam. http://www.uni-potsdam.de/u/kwi/publikationen/newsletter_gebietsreform/newsletter_gebietsreform_01.pdf

↑ State Constitutional Court MV. Ref. 2/00 on archived copy ( Memento from July 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive )

^ Newsletter 02 about regional reforms from the IKW of the University of Potsdam. http://www.uni-potsdam.de/u/kwi/publikationen/newsletter_gebietsreform/newsletter_gebietsreform_02.pdf

↑ LAND TAG MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN. Printed matter 4/205, p. 5

↑ Berliner Zeitung. Coalition dispute over finances, article from October 22, 2002 on http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/archiv/in-schwerin-streiten-pds-und-spd-ueber-finanzen-rot-rote-gespraeche-verzoegern-sich , 10810590,10037804.html

↑ Ad Hoc News. Chronology of the administrative reform in MV at http://www.ad-hoc-news.de/ddp-chronologie-wichtige-stations-der-verwaltungs-und--/de/News/20037814

↑ The Rüganer. Edition October 2002. Archived copy ( Memento from April 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

↑ Ad Hoc News. Chronology of the administrative reform in MV at http://www.ad-hoc-news.de/ddp-chronologie-wichtige-stations-der-verwaltungs-und--/de/News/20037814

↑ Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania District Assembly (2002). Position paper of the district council MV on the administrative reform discussion in MV

↑ State Parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Printed matter 4/205

↑ State Parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Printed matter 4/205, p. 10

^ STATE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT MV (2007). Az. 9/06 to Az. 17/06, p. 11

↑ State Parliament Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Plenary Protocol 4/8 of January 30, 2003, pp. 241-255

↑ Andreas Zecher: Reformers do not expect cheering choirs . In: Nordkurier.de . February 11, 2009 ( online ( memento of January 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) [accessed on May 2, 2017]). Reformers do not expect cheering choirs ( Memento from January 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

↑ State Constitutional Court MV (2007). Az. 9/06 to Az. 17/06, p. 16

↑ M. HEINZ: Development strategies for a peripheral region - institutional and informal cooperation as a carrier of new approaches, In: Greifswalder Geographische Arbeit. Volume 35, p. 154

↑ Landtag MV, printed matter 4/1184, p. 7

↑ State Parliament MV, printed matter 4/1210

↑ NNN. Chronology of the district reform. On http://www.nnn.de/nachrichten/home/top-thema/article//chronologie-2.html ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.nnn.de

↑ Ad Hoc News. Chronology of the administrative reform in MV at http://www.ad-hoc-news.de/ddp-chronologie-wichtige-stations-der-verwaltungs-und--/de/News/20037814

↑ Landtag MV, Document 4/1184 of 28 April 2004

^ STATE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT MV (2007). Az. 9/06 to Az. 17/06, p. 11

↑ Landtag MV, Document 4/1184 of 28 April 2004

^ STATE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT MV (2007). Az. 9/06 to Az. 17/06, p. 13

↑ Landtag MV, Document 4/1210 on 25 May 2004

↑ Landtag MV, printed matter 4/1306 of August 30, 2004

↑ Landtag MV, Plenary Protocol 4/53 of March 9, 2005, pp. 2999-3006

↑ Landtag MV, Landesdrucksache 4/1570

↑ CDU parliamentary group MV. CDU brochure administrative reform, August 2007 on ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2

↑ Landtag MV, Landesdrucksache 4/1710 from May 18, 2005

↑ Landtag MV, Landesdrucksache 4/2163 of March 27, 2006

↑ Landtag MV, Plenary Protocol 4/74, pp. 4370-4509 of April 5, 2006

^ STATE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT MV (2007). Az. 9/06 to Az. 17/06, p. 17

↑ S. KAPELLUSCH (2004). Personal restriction of administrative reform and task criticism, In: HENNECKE (Ed.). State and administrative modernization in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Rostock, pp. 105–107

^ City of Greifswald. Structural reform of the state of MV. http://www.griffswald.de/fileadmin/eigene-daten/d8c11f7de4/Leitbild/Protokoll_ueber_eine_Veranstaltung_zur_Strukturreform-Maerz_2003.pdf

^ STATISTICAL OFFICE MV (2009). Statistical reports on population development from MV 2030, p. 3 at http://service.mvnet.de/statmv/daten_stam_berichte/e-bibointerth01/bevoelkerung--haushalte--familien--flaeche/a-i__/a183l__/daten/a183l- 2008-01.pdf

↑ H. KLÜTER (2009). Democracy and administration in MV , Greifswald, p. 11

↑ Judgment of the State Constitutional Court of July 26, 2007 (PDF; 262 kB)

↑ LVerfG 17/06, p. 44

↑ LVerfG 17/06, p. 42

^ Veith Mehde: The end of the regional circles ? - to the decision of the State Constitutional Court of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In: NordÖR , 9/2007, pp. 331–337.

↑ Hans Meyer: Does the future of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania lie in the 19th century? State Parliament Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Study Commission "Strengthening Local Self-Government" . Commission printed matter 5/55, 2007, landtag-mv.de (PDF; 1.2 MB)

↑ Markus Scheffer: The bureaucratization of fate. LKV 2008, pp. 158–161.

↑ See also the reference to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in: Hans Peter Bull : Constitutional framework conditions for a functional, structural and possible district reform in Schleswig-Holstein . 2007, staedteverband-sh.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) (PDF)@1@ 2

↑ Wilfried Erbguth : On the failed district reform in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - comments on the judgment of the State Constitutional Court of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania of June 26, 2007 (LVerfG 9 / 06-17 / 06). DÖV 2008, pp. 152–155.

↑ Hans-Günter Henneke / Klaus Ritgen: Activation of civic self-administration in cities, districts and communities - on the importance of the teachings of Freiherr von Stein for the local self-administration of the present. DVBl. 2007, pp. 1253-1266, pp. 1264 f.

↑ Alfred Katz / Klaus Ritgen: Significance and weight of the municipal guarantee of self-government - Can the right to self-government be constitutionally weighed up? DVBl. 2008, pp. 1525-1536.

↑ Hubert Meyer: Lesson on democracy in manageable municipal structures, MVVerfG tilts regional circles. NVwZ 2007, pp. 1024-1025.

↑ Hermann Schönfelder / Armin Schönfelder: Self-administration is administration in manageable areas - the state constitutional court of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania declares the administrative and district reform to be unconstitutional. SächsVBl. 2007, pp. 249-256.