When it comes to digitization, there is a dispute between the federal and state governments regarding a nationwide uniform online user account for citizens. Bavaria wants to have a say in the future and advocates for a nationwide solution but does not want to leave the responsibility for this single account to the federal government.
Meanwhile, most other federal states have already signed a “Letter of Intent for the complete switch to BundID” (Berlin, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt, Saarland). Saxony-Anhalt and Baden-Württemberg have also committed to the complete changeover.
Thuringia, Hamburg, and Schleswig-Holstein want to continue operating their state-owned user accounts for the time being, but their online services should also interact with BundID in the future.
The dispute between Bavaria and the federal government is not about the technology of the user accounts, as both Bavaria and the federal government use similar systems. This is more about the participation of the states.
Bavaria has also been in dispute with the federal government over the Elster certificate, which the Free State developed. The federal government had originally planned to phase out the Elster certificate for online administrative services, but after pressure from Bavaria, the draft for the new online access law now provides for a longer transitional period.
