Germany: Minister for Employment Affairs Ursula von der Leyen presents draft jobcenter reform

Unconstitutional mixed structures. Flagship reform of the “2010 agenda” of the former green and red Schroder administration, social welfare, managed by towns, and long-term unemployment benefits, managed by the Federal Employment Agency (BA), merged in January 2005 and gave birth to the “Hartz IV” allowance (see our dispatch No. 091169). This merger forced towns and employment agencies to create new mixed local structures, called jobcenters or “ARGEn,” which didn’t go smoothly. Now, there are 346 jobcenters in Germany and their work for the beneficiaries of the “Hartz IV” allowance is often regarded as one of the best accomplishments of the former Schroder administration. However, in 2007, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that these mixed structures were unconstitutional. Indeed, the judges thought that they didn’t allow the beneficiaries to precisely know who gives them which allowance or who to turn to in case of a complaint. Therefore, the Court asked the government to reform this reform by January 1, 2011.
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Unconstitutional mixed
structures
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