FEDERALISM IN GERMANY

If you're interested in how federalism plays out in German constitutional law, you can read this article in the Frankfurter Rundschau today. The Bundesverfassungsgericht decided yesterday that a national telecommunications policy was not sufficiently "clear" in how it allocated authority for granting contracts to lay telephone line. The policy was that states and localities could issue the contracts unless they were too involved, financially, with companies that sought the contracts. The constitutional court narrowly decided (5 to 3) that the policy was unconstitutional because it didn't provide clear guidance for when the national government could intrude on the prerogatives of states and localities.

I haven't been able to find an online copy of the decision, but will look for it.