Reunified Germany and the European Union
United Germany was considered the enlarged continuation of West Germany, so it retained its memberships in international organisations.[107] Based on the Berlin/Bonn Act (1994), Berlin again became the capital of Germany, while Bonn obtained the unique status of a Bundesstadt (federal city), retaining some federal ministries.[108] The relocation of the government was completed in 1999,[109] and modernisation of the East German economy was scheduled to last until 2019.[110]
Since reunification, Germany has taken a more active role in the European Union, signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and the Lisbon Treaty in 2007,[111] and co-founding the eurozone.[112] Germany sent a peacekeeping force to secure stability in the Balkans and sent German troops to Afghanistan as part of a NATO effort to provide security in that country after the ousting of the Taliban.[113][114]
In the 2005 elections, Angela Merkel became the first female chancellor. In 2009, the German government approved a €50 billion stimulus plan.[115] Among the major German political projects of the early 21st century are the advancement of European integration, the energy transition (Energiewende) for a sustainable energy supply, the debt brake for balanced budgets, measures to increase the fertility rate (pronatalism), and high-tech strategies for the transition of the German economy, summarised as Industry 4.0.[116] During the 2015 European migrant crisis, the country took in over a million refugees and migrants.[117]