Bizonal Economic Council

The ''Wirtschaftsrat'' or Economic Council was West Germany's first post-war legislative parliament and progenitor of the German ''Bundestag''.

After the American Secretary of State George C. Marshall pushed for organisational improvements in the Anglo-American zone of occupation in post-war West Germany, the two Military Governors Lucius D. Clay and Sir Brian Robertson signed the ‘Agreement for Reorganisation of Bizonal Economic Agencies’ on 29 May 1947 resulting in the creation of the so-called ''Wirtschaftsrat'' (Economic Council), which became effective on 10 June 1947.

In principle, the Economic Council consisted of three organs concentrated in Frankfurt am Main: the ''Exekutivrat'' (Executive Committee) as a second chamber with representatives of the eight ''Länder'' in the Bizone, the ''Direktoren der Verwaltung'' (Executive Directors) as quasi-ministers presiding over the five already existing administrations, and, finally, the actual ''Wirtschaftsrat'' as first post-war parliament. In particular the latter was granted legislative and budgetary competence to facilitate the solution of pressing economic problems and the reconstruction of economic life. On 25 June 1947, the 52 delegates elected in an indirect ballot of one delegate per 750,000 citizens by the ''Landtage'' (parliaments) of the eight ''Länder'' in the Bizone gathered in Frankfurt am Main; on 9 August, the law for the reorganisation of the bizonal economic agencies was passed. Soon afterwards, however, the constructional flaws of the Economic Council as a whole came to the fore requiring the reorganisation of the bizonal administration. On 9 February 1948, the ''Frankfurter Statut'' defining the changes to the Economic Council came into effect. These were the renaming of the Executive Committee as ''Länderrat'', the creation of a ''Verwaltungsrat'' (Administrative Council) formed by the Executive Directors and supervised by a chairman officially titled ''Oberdirektor'', and, finally, the doubling of the delegates in the Economic Council, something which did not affect the proportion of political parties in this second economic parliament.

While the Economic Council was a decisive platform for the political debate and factual implementation of any emerging economic concept, the parliament’s resolutions and acts remained subject to the authorisation by the Allied ''Zwei-Zonen-Amt'' (Bipartite Board) in Berlin and were controlled by the so-called ‘''Zweizonenkontrollamt''’ (Bipartite Control Office) (BICO) in Frankfurt. Foreign trade and monetary transactions were carried out by the Allied Joint Export-Import Agency (JEIA). Due to the fact that the Economic Council was restricted in its legislative scope and also not a representative assembly elected by the plebiscite, the bizonal institution was often ill-regarded as quasi-parliament. Nevertheless, this first German parliament after World War II was a central prerequisite for Germany’s political and economic reconstruction and marked an important step towards German political and economic self-determination. Henceforth, German political parties were given the opportunity actively to conduct an economic policy and to affect the definition of an emerging economic model for post-war West Germany.Glossner, C. L., The Making of the German Post-War Economy – Political Communication and Public Reception of the Social Market Economy after World War II, London, 2010.

References

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1940s establishments in Germany
Legislative branch of the Government of Germany
1940s in West Germany