Where the Federation has the power to enact framework legislation, the states have a certain amount of legislative latitude. This applies, for instance, in the fields of higher education, nature conservation, landscape management, regional planning and water management.

There are also a number of other supraregional tasks which, though not mentioned in the Basic Law, are today jointly planned, regulated and financed by the Federation and the states. They were incorporated in the Basic Law in 1969 as “joint responsibilities” and cover university building as well as the improvement of regional economic structures, agrarian structure and coastal protection.

Direct federal administration is more or less limited to the Foreign Service, labor placement, customs, the Federal Border Guard and the Federal Armed Forces. Most administrative responsibilities are carried out by the states independently.