The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Areas, European Affairs and Consumer Protection is headed by Minister Cornelia Schmachtenberg and State Secretary Otto Carstens.
In 2022, an additional ministry was created, which will be responsible for the topics of agriculture, rural areas, Europe and consumer protection in the future. You will find more information about the ministry here shortly.
Schleswig-Holstein's European policy increasingly takes place in Berlin and Brussels. The German Länder more and more co-decide on European affairs especially in the Bundesrat, the second chamber of German Federal parliamentary system in which the German Länder cooperate on European politics of the German Federal Government. Nevertheless, the Land Government of Schleswig-Holstein promotes its own interests directly to the EU as well. To this extent Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg have established the Hanse-Office in Brussels as a joint representation to the EU.
Additionally, the European policy of the Land Government is based on cross-border cooperation with Denmark, an active Baltic Sea policy as well as the elaboration of a strategy for the North Sea area.
The Land Government supports a mandatory common and democratically coordinated economic, financial and social policy in the European Union. Necessarily, the collaboration and scrutiny by the European Parliament and national parliaments needs to be assured and the influence of the regions maintained. The aim is a social, democratic and solidary Europe.
The Ministry of Justice, European Affairs and Consumer Protection coordinates policies and measures of consumer protection, safeguarding that consumers are kept from harm and are provided with important information. The mission of Schleswig-Holstein’s consumer protection policy is to ensure that well-informed, confident consumers are enabled to act in a competent and critical manner with a high degree of personal responsibility.
