海角大神

The German city of G枚rlitz, located in the east on the border with Poland, boasts a revitalized center, boosted by generous federal funds. But it has struggled to build a robust job base or stem a massive exodus of the young.

Almost 400 miles west, Dortmund, located in Germany's industrial Ruhr valley, is also struggling, hard hit by the decline of the traditional coal and steel industries.

Yet Dortmund regularly channels part of its budget to eastern districts such as G枚rlitz.

Twenty-five years after the reunification of East and West Germany, western cities and districts continue to contribute funds to the federal budget for the east鈥檚 development, under the government鈥檚 fiscal equalization plan. But frustration at the burden has been on the climb, and a growing number of people in the donor districts argue that the transfer system is draining revenue they badly need themselves, and that it鈥檚 time for Germany to rethink its notion of "solidarity."

Rebellion against solidarity

Some聽$1.8 trillion聽鈥撀爋r almost $70聽billion a year聽鈥撀爃as flown聽into the former East Germany since the Berlin Wall fell in 1990,聽as part of an aid package pushed through by Chancellor Helmut Kohl to help ex-communist regions reconstruct. 鈥淪olidarity鈥� was the core principle of the 1993 roadmap. The notion is also enshrined in the Constitution, which guarantees the uniformity of living standards for all Germans.

The country's聽fiscal equalization plan required the more prosperous western regions to share tax money with聽the聽poorer聽east.聽In addition, a solidarity 鈥渟urcharge鈥� of聽5.5 percent of people鈥檚 income聽taxes would give the聽state聽leeway in financing general costs of reunification, and a聽鈥渟olidarity fund鈥� of $13.7 billion would be given to each ex-communist state annually for rebuilding infrastructure.

Aid funds lifted Berlin聽and other eastern regions聽out of economic doldrums, gave rise to new universities and聽autobahns, and helped cover the heavy social costs, such as pensions聽for millions of Germans, who, under communism, neither had to worry about pensions nor contribute to the pension system.

But they also produced serious drawbacks over time, says聽Joachim Ragnitz,聽director of the聽Ifo Institute for Economic Research in Dresden. In some areas, they聽fostered a culture of聽dependency.聽And聽in many of the east鈥檚 rural regions, they failed to scale back unemployment or improve industrial productivity. On many indicators, the east may need decades longer to catch up, if it ever does.

鈥淕ermans do not accept聽[the idea of] inequality between people and regions,鈥澛爏ays Mr. Ragnitz. 鈥淭his has some advantages and some disadvantages.鈥�

A new form of solidarity

Most aid聽measures were intended to be temporary.聽But in 2004, as the east continued to lag, the government extended the solidarity pact聽to 2019.聽By then, it was thought, the gap between the east and the west would be closed.聽Although the aid package is now being gradually phased out, there is a general recognition that another one will follow.

Both the struggling industrial regions in the northwest and the more well-to-do south argue that it鈥檚 time for solidarity to transcend the east-west divide. Subsequent efforts should emphasize instead the difference between weaker and stronger economies across the country, they argue.

In January, the state of Hesse, home to country's financial capital of Frankfurt, joined the industrial powerhouse state of Bavaria in asking Germany's highest court to check the constitutionality of the聽fiscal equalization plan.聽鈥淲e in Hesse feel solidarity, but we are not stupid,鈥� the state's finance minister, Thomas Sch盲fer, said then.聽鈥淭he volume of money is taking staggering proportions.鈥澛�

Hesse, along with Bavaria and Baden W眉rttemberg, transferred $10.5 billion to聽12 of the country's 16 states in 2012, according to federal figures.聽Bavaria alone paid half. And the city-state of聽Berlin聽received about half 鈥� some $4.1 billion 鈥� because, financially speaking, it is the country's weakest region.

鈥淭he pain threshold has been reached,鈥澛爏aid聽Markus S枚der, a member of Angela Merkel's Bavarian sister party, the 海角大神 Social Union.聽鈥淲e can no longer tolerate that Bavarians continue to be penalized for their courage.鈥澛犅�

A quarter-century after Germany became whole, many feel that investment in the east was made at the expense of investment in other struggling regions. Increasingly there's a call for a rethink of聽fiscal equalization,聽keeping in mind聽the constitutional necessity of enabling equal living conditions across Germany.

鈥淭he solidarity funds will continue聽beyond 2020,鈥� says Ragnitz. 鈥淏ut it won't be only聽between the east聽and聽the west, but聽between the poorer and the richer聽regions.鈥�