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3. Resource allocation, planning and prioritisation
3.1. Strategic aspects of resource allocation
Article 65 of the Basic Law establishes the primary responsibility of the Federal
Chancellor in determining the “general guidelines of policy”, subject to which each Federal
Minister conducts the affairs of his or her department “independently and on his own
responsibility”. The Federal Government as a whole “shall resolve differences of opinion
between Federal Ministers”. The traditional “collective cabinet responsibility” role is
therefore formally restricted to the area of resolving disputes and arriving at consensual
positions of government, rather than on deciding on key areas of government strategy (a
role reserved for the Federal Chancellor) or on sector-specific policies (a role reserved for
the responsible line minister).
The practice in Germany over recent years has been for the parties of government to
enter into a Coalition Agreement which outlines the main government objectives for its
period in office. There is no separate Statement of Strategy, National Development Plan or
other longer-term whole-of-government strategic document as found in many other OECD
countries. However, the process of negotiating and agreeing the Coalition Agreement
ensures that the government’s broad work programme is reflective of the political priorities
of the coalition partners.
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A drawback of broad political programmes and statements is that they are not
necessarily designed to align with the structure of the annual budget document. Policy-
makers and bureaucrats therefore face challenges in assessing how closely the resources

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allocated through the annual budget reflect the high-level political priorities, and in
deciding how these resources can best be reprioritised and reallocated if necessary. A
starting point in addressing such challenges is a clear specification of medium-term
political objectives for each area of government, and the introduction of mechanisms that
allow the performance of the ministries to be assessed by reference to these objectives.
This broad topic remains an ongoing area for development in the German budgeting and
planning system.