North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) believes that a fundamental state reform is necessary to realign the relationship between the federal government and the states.

"Anyone who wants to use digitalization efficiently, for example, needs standardization and centralization," the CDU politician told "Welt am Sonntag." It cannot be the case that a single federal state can block everything when setting nationwide standards.

"Even if it's as big as my own." "I am therefore expressly prepared for certain standards to be set by a majority in the Federal Council. Then everyone must accept that they will be outvoted at some point. And that would also be a completely new process. But that's the only way we'll become faster. Federal vanity must end. We must become more efficient – ​​for the good of the people," Wüst said. The Minister President cited the many different software solutions in government agencies as an example of the need for reform. "If work is carried out differently across 16 federal states and municipalities, it's not only expensive, but also inefficient and not citizen-friendly. No decentralized company could afford such a thing for long. This diversity doesn't bring any advantages; it actually complicates work. It's about the interplay of many factors: In addition to the software solutions, there are also administrative processes," said Wüst. A change of direction is also needed in the area of ​​educational policy, which is the responsibility of the federal states. "We have already introduced common standards with measures such as the centralized Abitur (university entrance qualification). We need to examine where further standardization makes sense," explained the Minister-President. "That doesn't mean that the federal government should dictate what the curriculum should look like in Münsterland. But we also need to consider how much diversity is justified." The relocation of a family with school-age children to another federal state, for example, for a new job, should not become a problem due to educational federalism. "And therefore, it may also make sense in this case that certain regulations are not subject to the unanimity principle among the states, but rather to the majority principle. The best solution for the children is crucial."