On 1st January 2001, within the framework of borough reform, the number of boroughs will be reduced from 23 to 12. Without splitting any of the existing boroughs, they will be combined to form larger and comparable administrative units with about 300,000 inhabitants each.

For the citizens, new decentralised citizens’ offices (service facilities) will be created to deal with their concerns in the locality. A city information system on the Internet – www.berlin.de – will in future save the citizens a number of visits to public offices. The citizens can then communicate with public offices on-line from their home computer or from public terminals.

Since 1995, the boroughs have received a global allowance from the budget of the federal state to enable them to fulfil their tasks. This strengthens their independence and their responsibility for their own affairs and it enables them to set their own financial priorities, although the Senate retains the supervision of the district administrations. They are not able to raise their own taxes or other charges.

The borough administration consists of the borough representatives’ meeting (BR) and the borough offices. The borough councillors are elected by the German citizens and nationals of other European Union states who are eligible to vote and live in the borough. At the borough level, parties which receive less than three per cent of the votes cast in an election are not represented on the council. The borough office is made up of the borough mayor and the borough councillors and is a collective administrative body.

The borough mayors of all the boroughs, together with the Governing Mayor and his deputy, the Mayor of Berlin, form the council of mayors. The Senate is obliged to consult the council of mayors in fundamental questions of legislation and administration. The same applies to draft bills from the House of Representatives.