If German Minister of Finance, Wolfgang Schäuble, should happen to be stuck for ideas as to what to give his state ministers for Christmas, he need only read the states' proposal for reform of the German Federal Financial Equalisation System (Finanzausgleich). According to the proposal, federal states should receive nine billion euros in tax receipts per year from the federal government. This being the case, the joyful tidings, announced by the Mayor of Hamburg Olaf Scholz, might come true: "The weaker states will become closer to the average, the strong states, however, will be able to hold onto more of their money than before."
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