Foundation of German Customs Union

The introduction of border customs systems at the beginning of the 19th century provided the German states in their purposeful customs policy with an instrument that enabled them to influence their economies, in particular to protect them against foreign competition and to regulate the proportions among branches of economies. The advantages of the border customs system in Germany were, however limited by the territorial disunity, still remaining even after the foundation of the German Union.

Efforts at economic integration were very much stimulated by the adoption of the Prussion Customs Regulations of 1818 and their practical application that forced smaller German states bordering on Prussia to follow the Prussian system, and the other states to enlarge their customs territories. The integration trends resulted in the foundation of three partial customs unions in the late 1820s. In the early 1830, most German states integrated into the extensive German Customs Union with single customs area. Among the members of the German Union it was Austria in particular that stayed outside.

The German Customs Union came into being as a union of German states (Staatenbund, not Bundesstaat). This remained unchanged even after the reconstitution in 1867 that strengthened its organization and the powers of its bodies. It represen­ted together with the German Union an active element that contributed very much to constituting the single German market, to the development of industrialization and, after all, to the growth of German national consciousness. The large economic area formed by the treaties on the Customs Union, became one of the important preconditions of the first political integration of Germany in 1971.